finalism

[fahyn-l-iz-uhm]

noun

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

finalism

/ ˈfaɪnəˌlɪzəm /

noun

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

Other Word Forms

• finalistic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of finalism¹

First recorded in 1905–10; final + -ism

Example Sentences

The theory we shall put forward in this book will therefore necessarily partake of finalism to a certain extent.”

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M. Bergson's form of finalism depends upon his conception of life.

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The theory we shall put forward in this book will therefore necessarily partake of finalism to a certain extent.

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The error of radical finalism, as also that of radical mechanism, is to extend too far the application of certain concepts that are natural to our intellect.

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But the truth is that there is a surreptitious passing from one of these two meanings to the other, a flight for refuge to the first whenever one is about to be caught in flagrante delicto of finalism by employing the second.

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