finalismn.
/ˈfʌɪnəlɪz(ə)m/, /ˈfʌɪnl̩ɪz(ə)m/, U.S. /ˈfaɪnlˌɪzəm/ 1. The belief that the end or limit has been reached.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > [noun] > a belief, dogma, tenet > that something is final
finality1878
finalism1883
society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > soul > doctrines concerning the soul > [noun] > finalism
finalism1883
1883 J. Parker Tyne Chylde 18 The infallibility of this finalism was most obnoxious to a mind so strong-minded.
2. The doctrine that natural processes (e.g. evolutionary changes) are directed towards some end or goal.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > metaphysics > [noun] > finalism
finalism1909
1909 W. R. Sorley Interpr. Evol. 24 ‘The organization of nature’, says Kant, ‘has in it nothing analogous to any causality we know’. It is not mechanism; nor, again, is it finalism.
1917 A. S. Pringle-Pattison Idea of God xix. 370 He develops his own account of ‘creative’ evolution in contrast with the two rival theories of mechanism and finalism.
1952 G. Sarton Hist. Sci. I. xx. 515 The purpose of a being is revealed by the study of its genesis and evolution. We are falling back upon the theory of finalism (or teleology).
1966 Philosophy 41 129 It only leaves the quite obvious streak of finalism in Hegel harder to understand.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1972; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1883