CABRAL, Alyanna Angelina Philo 171

COSCOLLUELA, Katrina Prof. Mendoza

DELA CRUZ, Louielyn
CAN SOMETHING WRONG BE JUSTIFIABLE?
The term “justifiable” is defined as something that is “able to be shown to be right or
reasonable.” Therefore, to answer the question, we believe that a wrong act can indeed be
justified. Going back to our definition, a justifiable act is only “shown to be right”. From this, we
can say that when a wrong act is justifiable, it does not necessarily mean that it becomes right.
However, not all wrong acts can be justifiable. Wrong acts are only justifiable if their
outcome is good. A mother hitting her child in order for her child to be disciplined is one
example. Hitting your child is wrong, however if your goal is to discipline your child, then it is
acceptable or justifiable.
You can also play with a wrong act and make it look like something that has a good
outcome in order to make it justifiable. This is common with those laws written by lawmakers in
order to advance their interests. One example is the cybercrime law. The enactment of
cybercrime law is wrong in a sense that it deprives people of their right to freedom of speech.
However, it is justified by saying that this law will protect other human rights by prohibiting
cybersex, child pornography, identity theft, illegal access to data and libel. This act can be a way
of silencing those people who will say anything against the government.
Therefore, regardless of the intention, whether good or bad, if wrong act results to a good
outcome or is based on just reason, then it can be justified. In addition to that, we also believe
that there are some instances in which the best outcomes are only achieved through wrong
means. An example of this is the execution of capital punishment in South Korea. If the
government of South Korea was more lenient in their punishment, then the people of South
Korea would not be as disciplined as they are now. Therefore, we believe that a wrong act, such
as the execution of capital punishment, is justifiable since it came from sound judgement.