Moral Success

Picture From: http://the-artifice.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Right-And-Wrong-287x162.jpg

The idea of furthering oneself in their overall state of life is a topic highly controversial in the sense what is moral and immoral in doing so. Earlier in the quarter we discussed utilitarianism, the idea that the best moral action is the one that brings the most people success no matter the consequences. Tied to this concept is the Machiavelli’s belief of “the ends justifies the means”.

In the article “Be Powerful”  from Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context the author talks about the opinions of Machiavelli and his viewpoints on the successfulness of mankind. He concludes to the idea that Machiavelli believed that the only way to become successful is through greed and evil, and that being good and kind always leads to one’s destruction.

I both disagree and agree with this because I think that the idea of power and success can and has made people lose sight of their original goals, whatever they may be, but at the same time people, maybe not as many,  have also become successful without breaking any moral rules.
In my next blog post I’m planning on addressing the impacts of simply being talented in contrast to outside factors, which is discussed in the books Outliers.