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Preferred term

entelechy  

Definition

  • Coined by Aristotle in the 4th century BCE, entelechy, or entelecheia in classical Greek, originally meant “being complete,” or having the end or purpose internally. Two thousand years later, Leibniz found it necessary to reintroduce the term to describe the principle and source of activity, the primitive force, in his “monads,” or real, substantial unities. [Source: Encyclopedia of Anthropology; Entelechy]

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URI

https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/entelechy

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