finalism

American  

[fahyn-l-iz-uhm] / ˈfaɪn lˌɪz əm /

noun

1. the doctrine or belief that all events are determined by their purposes or goals.

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finalism British  

/ ˈfaɪnəˌlɪzəm /

noun

1. philosophy the doctrine that final causes determine the course of all events

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Other Word Forms

• finalistic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of finalism

First recorded in 1905–10; final + -ism

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

finalism

It claims to transcend both mechanism and finalism; but, as we announced at the beginning, it is nearer the second doctrine than the first.

From Creative Evolution by Arthur Mitchell

That is what neither mechanism nor finalism takes into account, and it is what we also fail to consider when we wonder at the marvelous structure of an instrument such as the eye.

From Creative Evolution by Arthur Mitchell

Like radical finalism, although in a vaguer form, our philosophy represents the organized world as a harmonious whole.

From Creative Evolution by Arthur Mitchell

Their authors pass from physiological sensualism to moralism, from imitation of nature to finalism, and to transcendental mysticism, without consciousness of the incongruity of their theses, at variance each with itself.

From Aesthetic as Science of Expression and General Linguistic by Benedetto Croce

At best it can prescind from finalism by a confession of incompleteness and philosophical bankruptcy; by resolutely refusing to face the problem of the whole—of the ultimate whence and whither.

From The Faith of the Millions (2nd series) by George Tyrrell