Interesting words – Teleology and Etiology – as ways to describe living life. These ideas are introduced to us through the story of the discussion between the philosopher and the youth in the book The Courage To Be Disliked, by authors Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga. To be honest, I really did not know what these two terms meant. In fact, I had never really heard of Teleology before beginning to read this book and the authors’ introduction to Adlerian psychology. I had heard of Freud and Jung, but the authors have introduced us to a third giant in the field of psychology, Alfred Adler.
First I will ask you, do you really know what psychology is, or what philosophy is? Psychology is the study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both conscious and unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feelings, and motives. It arose as a discipline distinct from philosophy in the late 19th century. Philosophy (‘love of wisdom’ in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, value, mind, and language. For me, it is easy to see how, if looking at life’s fundamental questions, I could move to looking at human mind and behavior. That is how the author, Ichiro Kishimi, moved from philosophy, Greek philosophy, to Adlerian psychology. He feels their concepts intertwine.
Now, let’s look at Etiology versus Teleology.
Etiology is the study of causation or origination. More completely, etiology is the study of the causes, origins, or reasons behind the way that things are, or the way they function, or it can refer to the causes themselves. In this case, something happened in the past and it has an effect, and it causes us to do or act in a certain way. We have a trauma, and it has an effect on us. Basically, the authors say the idea is, “It’s not your fault” you behave a certain way, and you have to look at what happened in the past to understand why you are the way you are. Seems like pointing fingers and giving blame to something and removing responsibility from yourself. They say it seems to point to determinism; this happened so it can cause you to act or think this way. The end result is determined by the event.
Teleology, on the other hand, is a branch of causality giving the reason or an explanation for something as a function of its end, its purpose, or its goal, as opposed to as a function of its cause. Teleology is the belief that everything has a special purpose or use, or the study of such purposes. It is the theory that events and developments are meant to achieve a purpose and happen because of that, that there is a lesson or goal in everything that happens. The authors say, “Adler refers to the self being determined not by our experiences themselves, but by the meaning we give them.” We determine how to use an experience. We choose our actions and thoughts for specific goals we set, consciously or unconsciously.
Interesting, the responsibility comes back to us, how do we want to use it. Teleology gives us the power to create our lives, not live as victims to it.
I like the power in the concepts of teleology. It feels very empowering. Can you see the light of self -empowerment when you choose a different view?
Join us on the journey of self-empowerment with Grandmother Pa’Ris’Ha, me and the other international co-hosts on Quantum Leap Book Club on Law of Attraction Radio Network at https://www.loaradionetwork.com/quantum-leap or on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/thequantumleapbookclub
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