Since different causes may have the same effect, it is never impossible that the same purpose may be reached by different means. Insofar as socialism is considered an institution depending on the will of people, it is only the first proposal for eliminating those eudaemonistic imperfections which derive from historical inequality.

XREF: Connects to debates about socialism as a means vs. end, analogous to discussions of pragmatism in political philosophy.

XREF: Equifinality, a concept also found in systems theory and engineering.

Georg Simmel, on individuality and social…, loc. 762