# Instrumental vs Intrinsic goals Intrinsic goals are goals that an entity just *has* Instrumental goals are goals that an entity adopts because achieving that goal is a stepping stone to an intrinsic goal. Intrinsic vs Instrumental goals isn’t a “normal” framework: usually people talk about intrinsic vs instrumental *value* [Difference Between Intrinsic and Instrumental Value](https://www.thoughtco.com/intrinsic-and-instrumental-value-2670651) or intrinsic vs extrinsic goals. But why do you have extrinsic goals unless you think that they’re instrumental to achieving intrinsic goals? [Web URL for this note](http://notes.benjaminreinhardt.com/Instrumental+vs+Intrinsic+goals) [Comment on this note](http://via.hypothes.is/http://notes.benjaminreinhardt.com/Instrumental+vs+Intrinsic+goals)