Entelecheia

The goal of the individuation process is the synthesis of the self. From another point of view the term "entelechy" might be preferable to "synthesis." There is an empirical reason why "entelechy" is, in certain conditions, more fitting: the symbols of wholeness frequently occur at the beginning of the individuation process

This passage, citing Jung directly, argues that 'entelechy' surpasses 'synthesis' as a descriptor of individuation because wholeness symbols appear from the outset, evidencing an a priori potential wholeness rather than a constructed end.

Edinger, Edward F, The Psyche in Antiquity, Book One Early Greek Philosophy thesis

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we have to go into these mysterious terminologies and particularly into the word entelecheia if we are to get any grasp of what this elusive subject of the psyche, which we discuss so glibly, really is. Entelecheia is usually taken to mean realization or actuality, a condition in which a potentiality becomes an actuality

Edinger establishes that entelecheia is the indispensable terminological key to understanding the psyche, defining it as the passage from potentiality to actuality rooted in the Greek telos.

Edinger, Edward F., The Psyche in Antiquity, Book One: Early Greek Philosophy From Thales to Plotinus, 1999thesis

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This something we call entelechy.... which is a factor of nature, though it only relates to nature in space.... Introspective analysis shows that human reason possesses a special kind of category—individuality—by the aid of which it is able to understand to its own satisfaction what entelechy is

Driesch, as quoted and contextualised by Edinger, defines entelechy as a supra-mechanical factor in living organisms and argues that it is knowable through the introspective category of individuality, bridging biology and depth psychology.

Edinger, Edward F., The Psyche in Antiquity, Book One: Early Greek Philosophy From Thales to Plotinus, 1999thesis

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The creaturely Sophia, which is the foundation of the being of the world, its entelechy, entelecheia (in Aristotelian language), is at present in a state of potentiality, dynamis, while at the same time it is the principle of its actualization and finality.

Bulgakov identifies the creaturely Sophia as the world's entelecheia, currently in dynamis but functioning as the teleological principle orienting the cosmos toward its divine prototype.

Bulgakov, Sergei, Sophia, the Wisdom of God: An Outline of Sophiology, 1937thesis

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actuality, employment: energeia. This literally means a 'putting into use', an 'employment', but is often translated as 'actuality'. It usually contrasts with dunamis (capacity) or some cognate word, and is close in sense to entelecheia.

The De Anima glossary distinguishes energeia from entelecheia while acknowledging their close conceptual proximity, both contrasting with dunamis, thus clarifying the terminological field in which Aristotle's theory of soul operates.

Aristotle, De Anima (On the Soul), -350supporting

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the similarities that have been seen by some between it and the mature entelechist view, Aristotle often has recourse to a kind of laboured levity. Here he captures the inadequacy of the Harmony Theory to fit the facts of psychic life

The commentary contrasts the Harmony Theory with Aristotle's mature 'entelechist view,' indicating that entelecheia is the positive doctrine against which inadequate soul-theories are measured.

Aristotle, De Anima (On the Soul), -350supporting

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Aristotle's theory of animation amounts to the claim that particular living things, like all particular items, can... be analysed into their Form and their Matter, but that in the exceptional case of living things their Form can be identified with the traditional concept of their soul.

The introduction to De Anima grounds entelecheia within Aristotle's Form-Matter hylomorphism, presenting the soul's actuality as the Form of a living body — the structural basis for the later psychological appropriations.

Aristotle, De Anima (On the Soul), -350supporting

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entelecheia (realization), 67-69

The index entry confirms the term's specific location and canonical gloss within Edinger's treatment, anchoring it terminologically as 'realization' in the concordance of Greek philosophical concepts.

Edinger, Edward F, The Psyche in Antiquity, Book One Early Greek Philosophy aside

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the psyche is essentially a self-organizing entity stirring to continually unfold some innate destiny factor

Conforti articulates a teleological view of the psyche congruent with the entelecheia framework, describing individuation as the unfolding of an innate destiny without naming the term directly.

Conforti, Michael, Field, Form, and Fate: Patterns in Mind, Nature, and Psyche, 1999aside

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