Aristotle makes a case for the legitimacy of “instrumental ends,” i.e., acts that are done as a means to other ends, as an ethical concept if they help humans fulfill their functions as humans. This notion has a direct relationship to the oldest of moral issues: Are there some goals (ends) so important that they justify any means used to achieve them? (e.g. winning a war; throwing people out of overcrowded lifeboats; lying, cheating, stealing, even killing for a good cause; selective cannibalism; etc.)