Dear Folks--
I looked up escatology (which I though is at least a remotely related
notion) and entelechy in the Oxford Companion to Philosophy. I found the
entry below for Entelechy. I think it adds a fun slant that is consistent
with the picture you folks are painting. I especially like the "religious"
teleological (from the Greek word for goal task completion or
erfection -- also according to the Oxford Companion) movtives that I think
are implicit in this notion.
BEGIN QUOTE:
entelechy. Hans Driesch (1867-1941) this century's leading neovitalist, was
much impressed with his discovery that, despite extreme interferene in the
early stages of embrological development, some organisms nevertheless
develop into perfectly formed adults. In a thoroughly Aristotelian
fashion, therefore, he became convinced that there is some life-element,
transcending the purely material, controlling and promoting such
development. Denying that this 'entelechy' is a force in the ususal sense,
Driesch openly argued that it is end-directed. In his later writing,
Driesch moved beyond his Greek influences, starting to sound more Hegelian,
as he argued that ll life culminates ultimately in a 'supra personal whole'.
END QUOTE
the artical ends with a cross reference to vitalism which reminds me that
Peirce was himself an investigator of spritualism.
Cheers,
Jim Piat
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