Ethics and Efficiency

This article discusses the relationship between ethics and efficiency. It argues that efficiency is a measure of the extent to which an objective has been achieved, and that even if an objective is immoral or unethical, efficiency can still be used to evaluate the extent to which the objective is met.

Questions

• What is the difference between ethics and efficiency?
• Can an objective be unethical but efficient?
• Is it possible to have a good, moral, or ethically correct objective that is also inefficient?

Answers

• Ethics is a set of moral principles that govern how we should behave. Efficiency is a measure of how well we achieve our goals.
• Yes, an objective can be unethical but efficient. For example, the goal of disposing of human bodies during genocide could be achieved efficiently, even though it is an unethical goal.
• Yes, it is possible to have a good, moral, or ethically correct objective that is also inefficient. For example, the goal of providing food to the hungry could be achieved more efficiently if we used unethical methods, such as stealing food from others.