> I personally disagree with this definition; for me "end justifies the means" sounds like a perfectly rational conclusion, but not for humans - it's too common a failure mode for a man to follow this maxim, and it almost always ends bad; hence we have that saying.
I have never heard a person use that phrase and not violate the rights of other humans and their own morality. It is the gateway phrase people use to justify some act that they admit, by using that phrase, is not honorable. It's the phrase you say right before walking on that road paved with all those good intentions.
This post elaborates on the topic a bit more, and after reading it some time ago I ended up agreeing with its conclusion - that the phrase is OK from theoretical standpoint, for perfectly rational actors, but not for humans - hence the heuristic, "end does not justify the means".
I have never heard a person use that phrase and not violate the rights of other humans and their own morality. It is the gateway phrase people use to justify some act that they admit, by using that phrase, is not honorable. It's the phrase you say right before walking on that road paved with all those good intentions.