 In order to treat another merely as a means or just use him, an agent must use the other or treat him as a means. But when does someone count as doing that? As noted, using others or treating them as means is often morally permissible. In everyday discourse, expressions such as “She used me” can mean she just used me, or treated me merely as a means and so can imply a negative evaluation of action or attitude. But for our purposes talk of a person using another or treating him as a means implies no such moral judgment.