Entelechy
Greek entelḗs, complete + ékhein, to have
Entelechy (noun): The realization of potential; the condition of a thing whose essence is fully realized or actualized. In Aristotelian philosophy, it refers to the complete expression or full development of something, where a thing has reached its end or final cause.
First principles
Entelechy is the inner principle that makes a thing become what it is meant to be.
Everything holds two states: what it could be and what it is. Entelechy is the bridge between them when the drive comes from within, the way an acorn becomes an oak because that is what an acorn is. It is not a fixed endpoint but an active becoming: potential realizing itself through its own development.
At its core, it asks:
- What could it become?Name the potential the thing already holds.
- Where does the change come from?Look for the drive inside the thing, not a force pressing on it from outside.
- What is its complete form?Find the end its own nature sets, not one imposed on it.
Etymology
- ἐντελήςentelḗs
- complete, full-grown
- ἔχεινékhein
- to have, to hold
The word entelechy comes from the Greek ἐντελέχεια (entelékheia), which Aristotle coined in the 4th century BCE from ἐντελής (entelḗs) meaning "complete" or "full-grown," itself built on τέλος (télos), "end" or "completion," and ἔχειν (ékhein) meaning "to have" or "to hold." The scholar Joe Sachs notes that Aristotle was also punning on ἐνδελέχεια (endelékheia), "persistence," and renders the word as "being-at-work-staying-itself." It reached English through the Late Latin entelechia by the early 17th century.