Entelechy And POV

Starfarers, 44.

Seladorianism has existed for generations before this chapter opens. One of the names of the Seladorian god is "...Entelechy..." (p. 415) A "Prime Entelechy" is invoked in Julian May's Galactic Milieu Trilogy.

The dictionary meanings that I have found for "Entelechy" are:

"actuality"

"distinctness of realised existence"

"a vital principle supposed by vitalists to direct processes in an organism towards realisation of a common end"

I expect that the third meaning is applicable. I had wrongly thought that entelechy implied intellect.

Vitalism is the theory that life depends on a force distinct from either physics or chemistry. It has become evident that a single reality manifests itself physically, chemically, biologically and psychologically without needing any additional vital principle.

Seladorianism is a way to prevent human extinction, not to liberate individual consciousness.

pp. 411-424 are narrated from Panthos's point of view (pov). At the top of the concluding half page of this chapter:

"A rifle barked." (p. 425)

If the narrative had stayed with Panthos's pov, then the chapter would have had to end at the bottom of p. 424 because the immediately following sentence reads:

"He never heard it, nor felt the slug crash through his skull." (ibid.)

The remaining passage describes the aftermath of the shooting without any specific pov.