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#792 03/21/00 03:20 AM
Joined: Mar 2000
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joflo Offline OP
stranger
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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.


#793 03/22/00 11:18 PM
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jmh Offline
Pooh-Bah
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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.



#794 03/23/00 12:55 AM
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stranger
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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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