Do the Ends Justify the Means? Justice in Albert Camus's "The Just Assassins"

Abstract

The correlation between Ends and Means has remained controversial from time immemorial. To date, whether ends justify means and vice versa has never become a settled issue. This makes the topic we are investigating today very important in the field particularly of Justice and generally of the Social Sciences and Humanities. Should some people continue to think that the achievement of their endeavor matters no matter the methods adopted, or must the latter be genuine at all costs? Is it inappropriate to reject personal suicide and accept murdering somebody? Again, to what extent could one consider an action as a necessary evil? Our investigation thus aims to test the assumptions by seeking to determine what is supposed to receive focus in every human endeavor with regard to ends and means. In light of this, our focus is on Justice from the viewpoint of a decision to kill a dictatorial king with children so as to manifest freedom and happiness. At the end of it all, that the success of the day should not be judged by the evening harvest other than the grains sown becomes the key message and a summary of major findings. This contributes to the field (especially vis-à-vis ethics) in as much as it reinforces focus on the means – which reflects existing table of values, law and equity – in every human effort.