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

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

From Creative Evolution by Mitchell, Arthur

There is in vision more than the component cells of the eye and their mutual coördination: in this sense, neither mechanism nor finalism go far enough.

From Creative Evolution by Mitchell, Arthur

This may seem perilously near to finalism, yet it is no more necessarily so, than the process of photography; we only need a self-adaptive tendency in life-matter responsive to the stimulating-tendency of the environment.

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

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 Mitchell, Arthur

We must get beyond both points of view, both mechanism and finalism being, at bottom, only standpoints to which the human mind has been led by considering the work of man.

From Creative Evolution by Mitchell, Arthur