Word of the Week: Entelechy
A word used by Aristotle, entelechy implies a vital force that directs an organism towards self-fulfillment, or the condition of a thing whose essence is fully realized. Does this not sum up the relationship of the lone gardener to his garden? Are we not all trying to get our plants to direct themselves towards "self-fullfilment", or to "fully realize its own essence"?
In biology, it is a supposed vital principle that guides the development and functioning of an organism; philosophers think of it as an indivisible unit of being, like a soul.
Hilary Shughart, who helps vet the new words, put it in this sentence: "She treats her plants as individuals, respecting their entelechy, allowing each to grow as its nature dictates..." But then she pondered, "...ahem, if un' you ascribe to entelechy, does that make you an entelechtual?"
From Alan Polk of Raymond, MS
