The phrase ends and means in ethics refers to:

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In ethical reasoning, the phrase ends and means captures the idea that moral evaluation should look at both what you want to achieve and how you go about achieving it. The best way to express this is that it involves outcomes (the ends you aim for) and methods (the means you use). This matters because a good result cannot justify harming the process, and a clean process is not automatically ethical if the ultimate goal is wrong. For example, pursuing a beneficial outcome through deception would be considered unethical because the means are wrong, even if the result seems positive. Conversely, using perfectly fair and legal methods to pursue a harmful end is also morally problematic. The other options don’t fit this idea: preferences and traditions describe what people want or longstanding norms, not the moral assessment of actions; policies and procedures are organizational rules; accountability and enforcement concern responsibility and punishment rather than the moral weighing of ends and means.