The phenomenon of intellectual opportunism is frequently associated by its critics with careerism and dubious, unprincipled self-promotion, where ideas become just another commodity or a bargaining tool.
Unable to endure the difficulties of the class, he switches teachers, only to find his new master an unprincipled, lecherous predator with designs on the female students.
This is not to say that an ethic of ultimate ends is identical with irresponsibility, or that an ethic of responsibility is identical with unprincipled opportunism.
Potter's unprincipled principles apply to almost any possession, experience or situation, deriving maximum undeserved rewards and discomforting the opposition.
The majority opinion questioned whether sovereign immunity was appropriate in a republic, and suggested that it had been adopted in an unprincipled and careless way by previous court decisions.
It would serve us well to acknowledge the ways in which sectarianism, unprincipled personal attacks, opportunism and conscious withdrawal have contributed to our current state.