autotelic

[aw-tuh-tel-ik]

adjective

Philosophy.

1. (of an entity or event) having within itself the purpose of its existence or happening.

Other Word Forms

• autotelism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of autotelic¹

First recorded in 1900–05; auto- ¹ + telic

Example Sentences

Before adopting the word “flow” to describe the phenomenon of self-directed creativity, Dr. Csikszentmihalyi called it “autotelic experience,” to denote something done not for an outside reward but for its own intrinsic worth.

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The bonsai’s uselessly autotelic function can seem uncomfortably close to that of the novel.

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“I am sure that if we had continued to use the precise but cumbersome ‘autotelic experience,’ ” he said in 2000, “few people outside the academic community would have paid attention.”

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