Problem Solving and Justification

What are Justifications?

At the moment we act in response to a problem, each of us sees our approach as justifiable. If we later regret our actions or are called to task, we have reasons we should not be blamed or at least not held accountable. We call these reasons "Justifications." To us, these justifications legitimize our actions. To others who find our actions unwarranted, our reasons seem more like excuses, and our actions unjustified.

Sometimes, we may be unsure if our actions are justified because there is a conflict between what our reason and our feelings are telling us. When we see no clear-cut response, we go with the side of ourselves that makes the stronger case.

Excuses, Excuses!

To convince ourselves (and others) that our actions are justified, we make excuses like, "This is going to hurt me more than it's going to hurt you," "It's for your own good," "I had to teach him a lesson," "She had it coming," "I had no other choice," "I couldn't help myself," "There was nothing I could do," "It was the right thing to do," and "The end justifies the means." Each of these statements implies that even though feeling says this is wrong, reason makes a stronger case that it is right (or the reverse).

Whenever the "proper" response is unclear, the legitimacy of our actions is open to interpretation. If there were a way to stand outside it all and take an objective view, we could see which actions were justifiable and which were not. Unfortunately, we are not granted this objective view in real life. So, we create stories to try to estimate the objective truth.

The Author Giveth; the Audience Taketh Away

An author builds an argument that the Main Character's actions are either justified or not. He then "proves" the point by ending the story with an outcome of success or failure and a judgment of good or bad. In this way, the author hopes to convince an audience that actions taken in a particular context are appropriate or inappropriate. The audience members hope to become convinced that when the proper course of action is unclear, they can rely on a more "objective" truth to guide them.

In real life, only time reveals if our actions achieve what we want and if that will bring us more happiness than hurt. In stories, it is the author who decides what is justified and what is not. Within the story, the author's view IS objective truth.

The author's ability to decide the truth of actions "objectively" changes the meaning of justification from how we have been using it. In life, when actions are seen as justified, it means that everyone agrees with the reasons behind the actions. In stories, reasons don't count. Even if all the characters agree with the reasons, the author might show that all the characters were wrong. Reasons just explain why characters act as they do. Consensus on the reasons does not determine correctness.