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#792 - 03/20/00 10:20 PM forgotten word
joflo stranger Registered: 03/15/00 Posts: 1	Does anyone know the word for the process whereby the end justifies the means? I knew it years ago and would like to use it at work but I can't remember it. Please help.
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#793 - 03/22/00 06:18 PM Re: forgotten word
jmh Pooh-Bah Registered: 03/22/00 Posts: 1981	I think you want Machiavellian according to the Collins Dictionary (UK edition) Machiavelli Niccolo - 1469-1527, Florentine Statesman and political philosopher, secretary to the war council of the Florentine republic (1498-1512). His most famous work is "Il Principe" (The Prince 1532). Machiavellian (also spelt Machivelian), sometimes not capitalised adj. 1. of or relating to the alleged political principles of Machiavelli; cunning, amoral and opportunist 2. a cunning, amoral and opportunist person, esp a politician We usually attribute the idea that "the means always justifies the end" to Machiavelli but judging by the definition above, either a) that is a gross simplification of what he said/did or b) the Collins Dictionary is hedging its bets in case his descendants sue for libel.
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#794 - 03/22/00 07:55 PM Re: forgotten word
whalemeat stranger Registered: 03/15/00 Posts: 14 Loc: sydney australia	I don't know a particular word. That the end justifies the means is sometimes called the Jesuitical plea - a reference that is understandably held to be both offensive and inaccurate by Jesuits.
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