Do The Means Justify the End?
“Eat your spinach — it’ll make your muscles grow.”
“If you swallow your gum you’ll end up with a huge ball in your stomach.”
When I was growing up my parents would make these pronouncements …so I ate my spinach, like Popeye, and I tried not to swallow my chewing gum.
I understand why they said these things. To get me to eat vegetables and to keep me from choking. Simple maxims to protect me. The means justified the end.
‘A good outcome justifies or excuses any wrongs committed to attain it.’ (attributed to Machiavelli’s “The Prince”)
Really?
So if the outcome is that you get more patients/customers/clients and the result is that you help people develop a better lifestyle and eating habits — that sounds good, right? But what happens if you managed that by endorsing or promoting testing that you knew or suspected wasn’t evidence or science-based? Is it ethical to promote a test that your patient has to pay for, that isn’t covered by insurance, when you know or even just suspect that it isn’t valid?
What if you are trying to sell a food item and your marketing strategy amounts to scaring customers about a food or ingredient so they end up buying your product instead? Is that ethical?
What if you made promises like “you’ll lose 10 pounds in 2 weeks”, when you know that quick weight loss is seldom safe or sustainable?
What if you use click-bait words like #cleanse, #detox, or #cleaneating in an advertisement, Facebook or Instagram post or blog to attract attention and potential customers? Is it okay when you know the real meaning of the words and are just using them to get the clicks and new customers or followers?
Do the means always justify the end?
Where do ethics and integrity start…and stop?
When do you decide what means you will use to achieve the desired end, and do ethics and integrity make you stop and question what you are doing to achieve your goal?
This post isn’t to make any sort of pronouncements …just to ask the question, “Do the Means Always Justify the End?”
Here’s a final thought on this.
“The reason the means are important, maybe more important than the ends, is how we get to our goal is just as important as getting there. In other words, destiny tells us what we are to the world, but journey tells who we are; it’s the journey that unlocks our potential and establishes who we are as a person and what motivates us towards action.” Source: Ethics Sage https://www.ethicssage.com/2018/04/do-the-ends-justify-the-means.html