Answered using philosophy and ethics from Avengers: Infinity War
Are intentions or outcomes more important when judging whether actions are moral?
Your butt clenches as Thanos yanks the soul stone from Vision’s head and tosses his corpse onto the ground beside Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch. You plop another piece of buttery popcorn into your mouth as Thanos clutches the soul stone between two fingers, then releases it beside his gauntlet. Like two magnets being drawn together, the stone flies into the missing spot, and a surge of magnificent energy courses through his veins as he yells in both agony and satisfaction. Just as Thanos is about to snap his fingers, Thor strikes down from the sky and throws his hammer, Mjolnir, at Thanos. He groans as Thor pushes Mjolnir further into his chest, but with one last burst of energy, he actually does it. The damned purple potato really did it, you think. Not only did he beat the Avengers, he wiped out half of all life in the universe.
You shuffle out of the theater, deeply pondering the philosophy of Infinity War. Clearly, most people would agree with the notion that Thanos’s decision was completely immoral. Yet his intentions were entirely pure: he didn’t want future generations of life to suffer as his planet, Titan, had due to overpopulation, a Hollywood Tragedy of the…
