 In any case, this article’s focus is on treating others merely as means. Doing that is widely discussed as a possible violation of a moral constraint. More specifically, the article explores when someone uses another and either treats or refrains from treating the other merely as a means. It concentrates on concepts that seem to have roots in Kant’s work, but that are familiar from ordinary moral  discourse.[3]  Kant himself devotes little discussion to clarifying the notion of treating others merely as  means.[4]  Yet as is apparent below, some of his remarks have been a springboard for detailed accounts of the notion.