əBased on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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entelechy (ɛnˈtɛlɪkɪ) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n , pl -chies | |
| 1. | (in the philosophy of Aristotle) actuality as opposed to potentiality |
| 2. | (in the system of Leibnitz) the soul or principle of perfection of an object or person; a monad or basic constituent |
| 3. | something that contains or realizes a final cause, esp the vital force thought to direct the life of an organism |
| [C17: from Late Latin entelechia, from Greek entelekheia, from | |
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| a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison. |
| a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc. |
entelechy
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entelechy
(from Greek entelecheia), in philosophy, that which realizes or makes actual what is otherwise merely potential. The concept is intimately connected with Aristotle's distinction between matter and form, or the potential and the actual. He analyzed each thing into the stuff or elements of which it is composed and the form which makes it what it is (see hylomorphism). The mere stuff or matter is not yet the real thing; it needs a certain form or essence or function to complete it. Matter and form, however, are never separated; they can only be distinguished. Thus, in the case of a living organism, for example, the sheer matter of the organism (viewed only as a synthesis of inorganic substances) can be distinguished from a certain form or function or inner activity, without which it would not be a living organism at all; and this "soul" or "vital function" is what Aristotle in his De anima (On the Soul ) called the entelechy (or first entelechy) of the living organism. Similarly, rational activity is what makes a man to be a man and distinguishes him from a brute animal.
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