Just one point to add to what Gary says, namely, that the word "perfection", as used by Peirce in this context (and wherever the concept of a process is pertinent) should be understood as implying completion.
Joe Ransdell ----- Original Message ----- From: "gnusystems" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Peirce Discussion Forum" <peirce-l@lyris.ttu.edu> Sent: Saturday, May 06, 2006 7:07 AM Subject: [peirce-l] Re: Entelechy Wilfred, I have a smattering of classical Greek, maybe enough to provide you with a little information. Aristotle apparently coined the term, and didn't define it, so one has to figure out its meaning from context. (There is no listing for it in Liddell and Scott's Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, which is the only Greek dictionary i have at hand.) J.A. Smith's translation of De Anima renders it as "actuality." It is sometimes transliterated "entelechia" and sometimes "entelecheia" (the latter is closer to the actual Greek), so an Internet search on either of those spellings will bring up some useful items. As for Peirce, the term plays a prominent role in his "New Elements" essay, which you'll find in EP2 and online at Arisbe. Another illuminating passage is CP 6.356: [[[ It must not be forgotten that Aristotle was an Asclepiad, that is, that he belonged to a family which for generation after generation, from prehistoric times, had had their attention turned to vital phenomena; and he is almost as remarkable for his capacity as a naturalist as he is for his incapacity in physics and mathematics. He must have had prominently before his mind the fact that all eggs are very much alike, and all seeds are very much alike, while the animals that grow out of the one, the plants that grow out of the other, are as different as possible. Accordingly, his dunamis is germinal being, not amounting to existence; while his entelechy is the perfect thing that ought to grow out of that germ. ]]] Another term he gives as equivalent to it is "perfection of being" (CP 6.341). I hope this is of some help, though the more accomplished Peircean and Aristotelian scholars can probably provide more. gary F. }The revelation of the Divine Reality hath everlastingly been identical with its concealment and its concealment identical with its revelation. [The Bab]{ gnusystems }{ Pam Jackson & Gary Fuhrman }{ Manitoulin Island, Canada }{ [EMAIL PROTECTED] }{ http://users.vianet.ca/gnox/ }{ --- Message from peirce-l forum to subscriber [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.385 / Virus Database: 268.5.5/333 - Release Date: 5/5/2006 -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.385 / Virus Database: 268.5.5/333 - Release Date: 5/5/2006 --- Message from peirce-l forum to subscriber archive@mail-archive.com