<P> We must be clear about the fact that all ethically oriented conduct may be guided by one of two fundamentally differing and irreconcilably opposed maxims: conduct can be oriented to an "ethic of ultimate ends" or to an "ethic of responsibility ." This is not to say that an ethic of ultimate ends is identical with irresponsibility, or that an ethic of responsibility is identical with unprincipled opportunism . Naturally, nobody says that . However, there is an abysmal contrast between conduct that follows the maxim of an ethic of ultimate ends--that, is in religious terms, "the Christian does rightly and leaves the results with the Lord"--and conduct that follows the maxim of an ethic of responsibility, in which case one has to give an account of the foreseeable results of one's action . </P> <P> The term "consequentialism" was coined by G.E.M. Anscombe in her essay "Modern Moral Philosophy" in 1958, to describe what she saw as the central error of certain moral theories, such as those propounded by Mill and Sidgwick . </P> <P> The phrase and concept of "The end justifies the means" are at least as old as the first century BC . Ovid wrote in his Heroides that Exitus acta probat "The result justifies the deed". </P> <P> G.E.M. Anscombe objects to consequentialism on the grounds that it does not provide ethical guidance in what one ought to do because there is no distinction between consequences that are foreseen and those that are intended . </P>

Who developed idea that end justifies the means