End Justifies The Means In Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince

The few or the many? Their lives or our lives? One action, or many more months of fighting with many more deaths to come, with no end in sight? These were the questions that the American government had to ask themselves during World War II, when deciding on whether or not to use the atomic bombs that they had at their disposal. The weapon was eventually used, and while controversial, it was done with a good end in mind. The ends do, in fact, justify the means of war if the goal is good, and if the action being taken is not so morally wrong that there is no coming back from it. The phrase “The end justifies the means”, originating from Niccolo Machiavelli's book "The Prince", is interpreted by some to mean doing anything whatsoever to get the result you want, regardless of the methods used and how those methods may be perceived. It does not matter whether these methods
Whether they like it or not, all people have a conscience, and because of this people have to feel for others when they do something bad, mainly because there is something in their past which has led to them taking this path. I previously mentioned an example of a man stealing to support his family. What will happen if he does this again and again and never gets caught? Over time, he’ll start to feel nervous and guilty; feeling nervous because he may eventually get caught, and guilty over what he has done time and time again. Sometimes, people do not feel guilty until they are caught and brought in front of a judge where they explain why they did what they did. The court sometimes takes these things into consideration, however, just by saying I did what I did to help my family is just a long way of saying “The end justifies the means”. Consequently, if one asked if it is difficult to come to a worthy end with unworthy means, it depends on the viewpoint that each individual