means and ends
How and why
Means and ends refers to the relationship between methods (means) and goals (ends).
The phrase appears most often in ethical discussions about whether good intentions justify questionable actions: The ends don't justify the means.
To treat someone as a means to an end is to use them instrumentally rather than valuing them as a person.
- purposeReason something exists
- goalDesired end result
- methodOrderly way of doing
- outcomeFinal result of events
- justifyProvide adequate grounds for
greater good · achieve · instrument · tool · strategy · endgame strategy · result · big picture · motive · intention · path · destination · moral calculus · lesser evil · sacrifice · pragmatic · utilitarian · noble cause
- strategystrategy, grand strategy, tactics, tactic, tactical
- ethicsmorality, deontology, dignity, sanctity of life, utilitarianism
- Pragmatismpracticality, utility, realism, efficiency, results
- praxeologyhuman action, axioms, deductive logic, teleology, intentionality
- Weberrationalization, Protestant ethic, iron cage, disenchantment, social action
means and endspurposelessness
State of lacking intention
goallessness · accident · chance · happenstance · randomness
means and endsintrinsic value
Worth independent of circumstance
ends in themselves · art for art's sake · play · contemplation · presence
mean, means, meaning, meant, meaningful, meaningless, meaningfully, ends, ending