Do the Ends Always Justify the Means?
With Machiavelli's principles, we are now faced with the issue of whether the desired ends is justified by the means used to achieve them.
The first thing that comes to one's mind when hearing this phrase is, undoubtedly, if the ends justify the means is something ethically correct. The statement that the ends justify the means can be traced back to Niccolo Machiavelli. He expressed his view about the statement in his notable book The Prince. In his quote from Chapter 18 of the Prince, Machiavelli is instructing a Prince on how to behave and how to keep up appearances. According to Machiavelli, it is very important for a Prince to appear merciful, humane, faithful, and religious. He, further, adds that one must be prepared to act in a manner contrary to the appearance to keep up the appearance.
From a Machiavellian perspective, this well-known phrase implies the belief that actions people take are justified regardless of how they go about achieving their desired end result. These people are all about appearing as they wish people to see them Despite the fact that it is nothing like what they really are. Consequently, for Machiavelli, to appear to be doing something is good enough even if the person has no intention of doing so. Thus, achieving an end result far outweighs how people got there; what road they took; and whether their behavior was ethical or not.
In summary, according to Machiavelli, the outcome-focused motivation to reach the end state which implies "getting something done" is more important than doing something right in the process of reaching the end result.
References:
Skitka, L. J. 2002. Do the means always justify the ends, or do the ends sometimes justify the means? A value protection model of justice reasoning. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28(5), pp.588-597.