Sentence:  The consciousness it mirrors may have come earlier to Europe than to America , but it is the consciousness that most `` mature '' societies arrive at when their successes in technological and economic systematization propel them into a time of examining the not strictly practical <WSD>ends</WSD> of culture . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  the state of affairs that a plan is intended to achieve and that (when achieved) terminates behavior intended to achieve it