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UPSC 2018 GS-IV · 10 marks · 150 words

With regard to the morality of actions, one view is that means is of paramount importance and the other view is that the ends justify the means. Which view do you think is more appropriate? Justify your answer.

What “Justify” demands

argue positively for the stated position with evidence, and meet the obvious objection.

The characteristic failure: presenting both sides neutrally when a defence was asked for.

What a top answer must contain

These are the checkable specifics from the marking standard for this question — the actual case, committee, datum or thinker, not an instruction to “give examples”.

  • Frame the two positions: deontology (Kant, Gandhi's means-ends unity) against consequentialism (Bentham, Mill, Kautilya's raison d'etat)
  • Gandhi: 'means are after all everything... as the means so the end' — the sharpest Indian anchor
  • Case for consequentialism: triage in disaster response, surveillance to prevent a terror attack, lockdowns curbing liberty for public health
  • Case against: torture, encounter killings, ends-justified corruption — the slippery slope and irreversibility problem
  • A defensible position: means-constrained consequentialism — take a stand rather than sit between them, since the question demands a choice

The band thresholds and the pre-scored sample answers behind this standard stay private — they are the calibration your copy is placed against.

Now write it, and find out what you actually scored

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