Ends VS Means

Can the End Justify the Means?

Prezi: http://prezi.com/z5zbh7z8pv-i/should-the-end-justify-the-means/?kw=view-z5zbh7z8pv-i&rc=ref-35264215

-The general sense: it is not justifiable; laws give limits to what should be allowed and what should not be considered as justifiable.(Normal rules in laws do not overlook the means for the ends.)

 **However, it is necessary to think of it in a more specific way: cases where this idea of the justification of means is a dilemma

1. Cases in life where the ends can be more prioritized over the means

i) Ambulance

     -the ambulance doesn't follow the general rules of the traffic order

     -there is a law actually considering the urgency of the car, enabling the ambulance to have an excuse

     -the set rules are only active when there is a patient on the board.

*still this case is that an example of which the normal street laws are bent for the purpose of saving a life: but in some cases when the patient isn't that much in a serious status, we need to ask whether it is THAT necessary to break the normal law on the road.

ii) White lies

     -lies are normally seen as not justifiable, however the term 'white lie' goes against this thought.

     -white lies are lies told to others with the reasoning of not making them hurt their feelings.

     -also the placebo effect can be categorized as a white lie.

*the placebo effect: actually this method of remedy, using flour based medicine in order to TRICK the patients to use their mental power is actually not justifiable. What the patient wants is a proper cure, and we can see that these doctor misused the different information that they have and what the opponent has.

*officially, the method using the placebo effect is not considered legal in most cases of the US and also S.Korea.

2. Cases in which the focusing of the ends led to disasters.

i) The melamine incident

     -several years ago, China was under a discussion due to their act of using melamine in baby products

     -after the truth revealed, China faced many hardships and was asked to change the current system in making baby cream and milk.

     -this situation can be viewed to be a case of where China had a problem of ignoring the moralities in making products, only focusing on the ends of reducing the entire cost of production.

ii) The Death Note

     -although it is a Japanese anime, the concept of trying to eliminate all the criminals something we should talk about.

     -in the anime, the main character finds a notebook that has the power the kill anyone with who has their name on the note.

     -the main character, Laito decides to eradicate all the criminal masterminds in the entire world.

*the problem of this anime is that whether it is justifiable to actually kill people if these people are considered dangerous and a civil menace. Laito himself, dies at the end of the comic series, making us ponder what he did was justifiable at all.

DEBATE

1) The wrongdoings and the contributions of the president Park.

2) The problems regarding life and death in the cases introduced by Michael Sandel.

Life: Self Narrative

Today I am up here to supposedly talk about my life. Obviously this is meant to be a narrative speech, talking about my life. Actually there's not much to say about my life. I didn't live in a jungle where I ate caterpillars as a daily diet. nor did I have a disabled member in my family who I always had to look after. No, no, no. I grew up in quite the average family in South Korea, living in an apartment with my mother, father, and my younger sister. We are a happy family and are very close to each other. All of this is boring. Nothing in life would be that different to you guys also with a normal family and in a normal house. It seems a bit ridiculous to actually talk about myself and my life when it's just the same as everybody else's.

To be honest though, I think I have a story that I can tell everyone else that probably most of the people here haven't gone through. A car accident. And a serious one. How many of you saw your airbag go off? Or did anyone see your car window shattered into pieces on the road? Well not that much I guess. Okay then, let me tell you what exactly happened. It was about a year ago, it was the day when me, my mom, and my sister had lunch with my grandmother. After the meal and after a bit of shopping, me, my mom, and my sister gave our grandmother a ride back to her apartment, and then left for my English Academy. My mother said that she needed to stop by to refill the fuel tank at a gas station, so she drove to the direction. Our car arrived near the gas station, at a T-shaped road. (Drawing and explaining) The light was on signaling the left turn, and my mom drove the car forward. And then there was a crash. It was incredible. Something so powerful shook the entire body of the car, making everyone inside, the three of us, not being able to sense what was going on in that moment. My sister screamed for a second. And then silence. Well I guess I just thought it was silent because my ears were ringing. Then I got out of the car first, trying to figure out what happened. Then I was dumbstruck. Our car's right side was literally caved in. (Drawing Explanation) And also the direction of our car was FACING the other car(a truck actually). That day, we all went to the hospital taking small tests and getting check-ups, and having the entire day off. Luckily, no one had a serious injury, except for the truck driver who sprained his ankle. Honestly I has a bit more relieved by the fact that I missed the English Academy rather than the fact that I didn't die.

But anyways, there's a message I want to tell you. What I learned through this not-an-every-day-event is that not necessarily the fact that you should put your seat belt on. Actually, my sister didn't get hurt because she didn't had her seat belt on and because she was leaning towards me, but that's a different story. What I really wanted to say is that everyone in this room should live your life as if it is your last. People these days, take their life as granted. But, there is a open possibility to be gone from this world every second of your life. My grandmother that day, was lucky. If she decided to be with us in the car, she might have gone through serious injuries that may have harmed her life. Especially because she would have had seated on the right front passenger seat, which was the most heavily damaged. Not only about our grandmother, but even myself, if our car was not a SUV that is higher than an average sedan, I might not be here.

After experiencing an accident that might have been somewhat fatal, I began to lean close to the idea that you have to live your life without regret. I believe it is very important to do so. Looking back at the accident, I...was scared. because your life, your last breath can be taken anywhere, at anytime. So lastly, I want you to shout out carpe diem! in your lives. Live a life where you will not regret anything, and enjoy your afternoon! Thank you!

Volunteer Work?

I never have fancied meeting the poor. I also never fancied meeting disabled people and helping them. I other words, I never actually liked volunteer work. Trying to give meals to people I do not know, sitting in front of mentally ill patients and making myself look like one of them. That was the initial view I had towards all the different acts of volunteer work. I literally found them a waste of time.

When I was in middle school, I found out that it was necessary to fill in 60 hours volunteer work throughout the 3 years in order to graduate from the school. Having a dark look on my face, I decided to participate constantly in playing the violin for the poor in front of a cafeteria. The cafeteria was run by a chapel nearby, the priest looking over the system, hygiene and the financial management of the place. Me and my part of my orchestra went to that place once every two weeks. And whenever we visited the place, we weren't that happy. The music teacher, who managed our school orchestra, was getting aggravated by the fact that me, as a bandmaster, was not seeming to be the best model for the freshmen nor the juniors. Eventually, I decided to pay more attention to the people who come to have a meal.

As I drew my attention from my personal boredom to the people who are taking our volunteer work, I got to know something peculiar. The people there weren't that happy either. It was very weird to think that the service that our orchestra provided never was that much of a joy to the people who met upon it. With a characteristic of which I cannot stand my curiosity, I ask the priest why these people were so unhappy about our performance. His answer struck me hard in the head.

"These people spend their entire day simply craving this single meal. Most of the people only get to eat this meal as their one and only diet everyday. Of course they don't understand you're musical talents, actually they can't afford to understand. It would be a better idea to try to understand them and try some new music, okay?"

I was a fool. Every time I visited the cafeteria, I was loaded with hard and dynamic notes composed by Mozart and Beethoven. However, it was clear that the people who visit the place had no way to access such genre of music in their lives. It was obvious that they don't understand classical music. So, I changed the plan. I made an agreement with my other orchestra members to choose songs that are probably much more familiar to the people. Old Korean songs and songs by very famous Korean singers were the major choices we made.

After the change I started, there had been a huge difference in the way the people reacted to our performance. Starting off from nodding their heads, some elderly people even danced and sang aloud to our music. In the end I acknowledged something very important. Volunteer work is something that can be only properly done when you truly try to understand the people. Although I still am not a big fan of doing such work, it turned out much more easier for me to understand the people whenever I had a chance to help them out.