You rang?

You rang? — schopenhauer1

:lol: Only to inform you how right you are! I hope you weren't in the middle of something important. I'd hate to be a nuisance monsieur! Au revoir fellow traveller! Our non-grandchildren will not sing of our brave exploits! :lol:

I hope you weren't in the middle of something important. I'd hate to be a nuisance monsieur! — Agent Smith

We can regard our life as a uselessly disturbing episode in the blissful repose of nothingness.
-Schopenhauer

Our non-grandchildren will not sing of our brave exploits! :lol: — Agent Smith

This is true. Aggressive paternalism assumes life is good and necessary for someone else. It disregards suffering of another so that X goals are achieved. Indeed it is ends justifying means mentality and a deontological miscalculation.

I’m rambling perhaps as I have no context for which I was called but the thread is about ends justifying the means so I’m going with that.

I sympathize with yer overall weltanschauung mon ami! The ends justify the means! :snicker: :snicker:

Captain Leland Stottelmeyer:

If getting the lamp isn't guaranteed, then I certainly wouldn't be willing to kill anyone.

Really, the answer to the question as to whether the ends justify the means is "It depends".