If a goal is worthy, then any means taken to attain it are justifiable.Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting yo

The presented issue of if a goal is worthy than any means that one takes to achieve this goal is justifiable is as forceful as it is ludicrous. The statement immediately has a negative tone to it due suggesting that any means, no matter the cost, are justifiable is the end goal is worthy. First what is ‘worthy’, worthy is a very vague term. Secondly even thinking superficially about the given topic, it is clear that taking any means to achieve is a goal is absurd.

Looking firstly at the word ‘worthy’. If a goal is worthy to me, does it automatically mean it is worth to you? Of course not! It could, in fact, be completely worthless to you. To the leaders in North Korea, it may very well be seen as worthy to develop nuclear capabilities: to defend their home and the great land that they live in. However, it is clear to us, living in a western world, that developing nuclear weapons is not a worthy cause and is a danger to humanity itself. Hence, the issue given is plagued by the issue of the point of view of the person/company/institution that is attempting to reach their goal.
Moving onto the second half of the provided issue, stating that if a goal is worthy then it is justified to take any means to attain it. ‘Any means’ is an extremely strong word choice, we normally see it only in movies where soldiers are told use ‘any means necessary’ to find the president. Let’s say that Australia is developing a new smart phone that far surpasses the current phones in the United States and a businessman considers it worthy to ensure that America’s smartphone is the best in the world. Even if one could argue that this is worthy; keeping jobs in the USA, ensuring that the USA remains a world technological leader, is any means necessary really justifiable? Surely dropping a nuclear bomb on Sydney - where the smart phone is being developed - in any way, shape or form cannot be seen as justifiable.

Malaria is the biggest killer out of all virus’, diseases or other forms of unnatural deaths. This would be seen, at least in most people’s opinions, as a worthy cause. Two situations could exist to attain this goal. Firstly the means could out weight the benefit, even if it as noble as eradicating the world’s greatest killer, perhaps a virus that would kill all Mozzies in the entire world would have to be released. However, this would result in an ecosystem collapse that would result in world famine. Obviously, in this situation, the means could not be justified. However, it is certainly possible that a simple vaccine could be developed that would protect humans from contracting Malaria. In this cause ‘any means’ could point to spending billions of dollars – which many would consider a reasonable price to pay for the benefits that are gained. However due to the strong exact language exhibited in the statement this possible situation does not change my view that the given statement is preposterous.

Ultimately I have to completely and irrevocably disagree with the provided statement. There is simply no way that using any means to achieve a worthy goal is justifiable. The vague definition of ‘worthy goal’ presents an issue in determining what an ‘worthy goal’ actually entitles. Combining this with the uncompromising ‘any means’ allowable people to take actions which are not remotely justifiable to regular people, results in a statement which I find impossible to agree to.