Intentions

I just wanted to touch on the issue of Intention and its importance to ethics.

It is a critical issue, which I have struggled with all my life. Really just how important are intentions as opposed to the actions taken or the results of those actions. There is the old adage that “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”. Does intention matter? Without proper action, intention may be immaterial, or even harmful. In a simple example, I may intend to lose weight so that I can live a healthier life. Yet if I do not do the requisite study of nutritional education, or exercise and / or change my eating habits, it really doesn’t matter what my intention is, I will not lose weight.

What if someone who is torturing someone has the good intention of thinking they are saving lives. Does it really matter what the intention is, if the act itself is unethical. Suppose someone steals money but does it with the intention to give it to charity. Does that make the act of stealing any less unethical. What about a doctor or pharmaceutical company whose intention is only to make money, but they save thousands of lives.

Is it the intention, the act itself, or the result of that act that determines the ethics of the situation?

Ah, these are the questions that have plagued minds for millennium.