Imagine that one day you decide that you are going to try to make yourself debt-free, to get more independent in your spending. "Well," you say to yourself, "I don't make very much money. How will I do this?" You decide to rob a bank.
The pragmatic means to work towards an ideal, being debt free, is immoral, after all, your breaking the law. Your means must be valued above your ideal, because if you use a bad means, you often lose the reward, as I will show later. We must pay attention to keep our means morally correct.
My value, morality, is better upheld by negating the resolution, and this is why I stand resolved that in a conflict, Idealism ought NOT to be valued above pragmatism.
All definitions are defined by Merriam-Webster.
Conflict is defined as, “competitive or opposing action of incompatibles : antagonistic state or action (as of divergent ideas, interests, or persons).”
Idealism is defined as practice of forming ideals or living under their influence
Pragmatism is defined as a practical approach to problems and affairs
My value, morality is defined as conformity to “ideals of right human conduct.”
I would like to argue that pragmatism is necessary to achieve our goals, because if we undervalue the means, we may lose our goal, and the benefits of the goal.
Contention One- If we undervalue the means, we may lose our goal. If we do not realize the consequences of our actions, we will often not reach our goal. Just like if you drive somewhere without good, realistic directions to your destination, failing to make practical decisions, will not get you where you want to go. Allow me to bring up the historical example of American track star Marion Jones. In the 2000 Summer Olympics, she wan three gold medals, and two of other colors. It would appear that she was the best sprinter in the world, right? Wrong! In 2007, America found out that her means to achieve her medals was illegal and immoral. She used performance enhancing drugs. Though she temporarily gained her goal, she lost it in the end, as the Associated Press reported, “She is broke, her reputation is ruined and she is looking at prison time. This shows that if we do not value pragmatism, we can lose our ideals. This brings me to my second contention…
Contention Two- If we undervalue the means, we may lose the benefits of the goal. Allow me to bring back the analogy of the bank robbery. Most likely, you will be caught for your immoral means, and sent to prison. Now you have WAY less independence in your spending. Your means lost you the benefit of your goal. The same thing happened to Marion Jones. She was stripped of her medals, and is now in a worse state,all because she undervalued the means.
Now I would like to address the affirmative case…