A very old and basic ethical question...

Your intentions hardly mean anything outside of your own head. Especially if the outcome is negative. The consequences of your actions are what effects people and has an impact on the people around you. Your intentions may alter the way people feel about the outcome, but the outcome is still the same, and still what should be regarded.

 

consequences,
without them how would we learn lifes lessons??

we wouldn't

 

IMO any answer to this question is subjective. Merely an opinion backed with some kind of reasoning, which can be rationalized / argued away until the end of time. Thus, I can't pick one over the other. It's like asking, "What's better: heads or tails?" So being how I am, I guess I'd say that they're both of equal significance to me.

Also, it'd seem to me that saying intentions don't matter is like saying we should just do whatever we want without regard for the outcome.

 

Our intentions because we control these. Consequences sometimes fall beyond our control. If we have good intentions, then perhaps it could be argued more good consequences would arise.

 

intensions, because surely the very first consequences happened only because someone intended something, probably to live and get food
however i get the point about learning lessons, and now i have no idea!

 

neither. our actions are the important part, not the consequences of them. although it is important to keep the consequences in mind. intentions are just untaken actions and count for nothing real.

 

In my life I have found that good intentions in addition to a good dose of reality, understanding limitations and adhering to common sense yeilds outcomes that are generally favorable. Good intentions alone will not necessarily lead to good consequences, but in my mind they are a big part of the equation.

 

For every action there is an equal but opposite reaction. Therefore, all actions have a "good" and a "bad" consequence. We may not know both sides of the consequence. We may never know any consequence. It is the intention that counts.

 

So true. And to really answer this question, We must clarify whether we are talking about personal, societal, short term, long term etc etc...consequences. And of course, "good" in one context could be "bad" in another. To calculate the actual and total results of our actions would be an extremely difficult task, and unless we have done exactly that, no single answer to this question is better than the next one. But none the less, very interesting to ponder.

 

The devil fools with the best laid plans. But our intetions are whats important in spite of this.

 

One with the truest of intentions should take into account possible outcomes before manifesting intentions to action