: something done only to produce a desired result For her , marrying a rich man was just a means to an end. All she really cared about was money.
Where does a means to an end come from?
The expression a means to an end seems to have arisen sometime in the mid-1800s, though its origin is uncertain . It may be a rephrasing of the proverb, the end justifies the means.
What is a means to an end activity?
A means to an end is an activity or process done in order to accomplish a goal . Often, the activity itself is not enjoyable or considered important. The phrase means to an end is used to describe things that a person considers to be necessary to suffer through in order to accomplish their real goals.
Who said a means to an end?
A means to an end: what marketers can learn from philosopher Immanuel Kant . Philosopher Immanuel Kant said that human beings should be treated as an end in themselves and not as a means to something else.
What is another way to say means to an end?
Synonyms: preparation , agreement, plan, planning, arrangements, strategy, plot, conspiracy, blueprint.
Why is the end not an end?
2 Answers. An “end” or “end in itself” is the end result, the ultimate goal, the final conclusion. A “means to an end”, therefore, is a way of getting to a given goal. ... A related expression is “The ends justify the means.” This phrase is used when the end result justifies whatever action was used to get there.
Is the means not an end?
If you say that something is a means to an end, you mean that it helps you to achieve what you want, although it may not be enjoyable or important itself. We seem to have lost sight of the fact that marketing is only a means to an end.
What does an end in itself mean?
: something that one does because one wants to and not because it will help achieve or accomplish something else She started exercising for her health , but she enjoyed it so much that exercising became an end in itself.
What is the opposite of means to an end?
arrearage . debits . Noun. ▲ Opposite of a means of attaining an end, especially one that is convenient but possibly improper or immoral.
Do the ends justify the means meaning?
Definition of the end justifies the means
— used to say that a desired result is so good or important that any method, even a morally bad one, may be used to achieve it They believe that the end justifies the means and will do anything to get their candidate elected.
What is Kant’s universal law?
Kant calls this the formula of universal law. ... The formula of universal law therefore says that you should should only act for those reasons which have the following characteristic : you can act for that reason while at the same time willing that it be a universal law that everyone adopt that reason for acting.
What does it mean to treat people as ends and never as means only?
‘Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never merely as a means to an end, but always at the same time as an end.
Is technology a means to an end?
One says: Technology is a means to an end . ... Technology itself is a contrivance, or, in Latin, an instrumentum. The current conception of technology, according to which it is a means and a human activity, can therefore be called the instrumental and anthropological definition of technology.
Why is a person an end in itself?
If a person is an end-in-themself it means their inherent value doesn’t depend on anything else – it doesn’t depend on whether the person is enjoying their life, or making other people’s lives better. We exist, so we have value. Most of us agree with that – though we don’t put it so formally.
What’s the meaning of Da Capo?
Da capo (Italian: from the beginning ), abbreviated to the letters D.C. at the end of a piece of music or a section of it, means that it should be played or sung again from the beginning (Da capo al fine) or from the beginning up to the sign (Da capo al segno).
Is it a end or an end?
The Free Dictionary says that Ending is “a conclusion or termination, a concluding part; a finale: a happy ending.”, among others. And for “End” it says “either extremity of something that has length: the end of the pier. 2. The outside or extreme edge or physical limit; a boundary: the end of town.”
