Teleology and Human Action

Description

This book examines the role of teleology—understood as purposiveness or orientation toward ends—in shaping human action and the pursuit of a meaningful life. Centered on the philosophy of William James, it argues that his pragmatism places purposive human agency at the core of philosophical inquiry, integrating psychology, metaphysics, anthropology, epistemology, ethics, and religious thought into a coherent vision. By synthesizing teleological insights dispersed throughout James’s writings, the work presents a systematic interpretation of his future-oriented philosophy. It explores themes such as selective attention, habit formation, the “will to believe” doctrine, meliorism, and a pragmatic understanding of truth, showing how these elements converge in a dynamic account of human striving. The book situates the research in dialogue with Aristotelian virtue ethics, Viktor Frankl’s search for meaning, developments in positive psychology, and Thomas Aquinas’s vision of...