meansground

Meansground is a neologism used in philosophy of action and related fields to denote the background set of conditions, resources, norms, and contextual factors that render certain means viable for achieving particular ends. It captures the idea that the feasibility and legitimacy of an action depend not only on the chosen method (the means) and the goal (the end), but also on the surrounding ground that supports them—the environment, capabilities, constraints, and institutional landscape in which the action takes place.

Distinctions: Means are the specific actions or procedures; ends are the desired outcomes; meansground is the grounding layer that makes the selection of means possible and justifiable. The term is used descriptively to analyze how different grounds enable different means, and normatively to assess whether a given meansground is adequate or justifiable for a given end. It is compatible with plural or relational accounts of action, and it can be interpreted as highlighting dependencies between method, purpose, and context.

Origins and usage: The term has appeared in a small number of scholarly discussions since the early 21st century, primarily within action theory, ethics, and systems thinking. There is no single canonical definition, and scholars may emphasize different aspects, such as resources, social norms, or infrastructural conditions. As a result, mean sground tends to be used as a flexible, contextual concept rather than a rigid technical term.

Applications: In ethics, meansground is used to examine whether an end can morally justify the means given the available ground. In organizational theory and operations research, it refers to the resource base and policies that determine what actions are feasible. In AI and computational fields, it can denote the data, hardware, and software environment required for a procedure to run.

See also: grounding, means-end theory, resource-based view.