The Final Solution: Do the Ends Justify the Means?

Immanuel Kant (portrait by Johann Gottlieb Becker)

Kant didn’t believe the ends justify the means. He believed there was a right form of action and he coined a philosophical term to describe this, “the categorical imperative.” This may come in handy when you have a leader who brings in the bacon as President Trump claims he'S doing by prevailing with the Chinese, being the first American president to step on North Korean soil and also sitting on top of some excellent numbers when talking about the economy. Each of these triumphs can be deconstructed. For instance, Trump’s crossing into North Korea can be looked at as giving Kim Jong-un everything he always wanted. Now he's received major validation and if rumors have it correctly the United States might even accept something less than full nuclear disarmament. But the more extensive question relates the fate of the constitution and particularly the Bill of Rights in a world where the abrogation of the lines between executive, judicial and legislative together with the separate of church and state appear to be threatened on a daily basis. When you start deferring elemental governances you destroy due process. Apparently contributions to the Trump re-election campaign, at approximately $105 million for the second quarter, surpass the amount received by the Obama re-election campaign for the comparable period.