Telos is a term used by the Greek philosophers and Aristotle to refer to the full potential or inherent purpose of humans. Full actualization of our purpose or telos is how humans achieve Eudaimonia, which is the Greek idea of long lasting happiness or proper functioning of the soul.
The question is whether our telos is fixed in stone and we have no choice but to fulfill it, or if we have the ability to control or change our telos. For the Greeks there were a great number of things outside of our control, but developing the right kind of virtuous character can increase our chances at achieving Eudaimonia.
Perhaps a good metaphor is that of ship. A virtuous ship is one that is sea worthy, one which can withstand all kinds of storms, and one which will reach its destination no matter which direction it is headed. A ship also has a great number of external factors influencing its direction, like the current and the direction of the wind. Determinism is the thesis that the past and the laws of nature causually determine every decision we make. It is true that just like the ship we are all under the influence of our unique past and the physical laws of nature, which may result in a particular telos or fate if unhindered, like a ship that is passively carried by the sea to an unintended destination. What is up for debate is whether humans have the free will to be able to do otherwise, and choose a different destination in spite of our past and the laws of nature. Indeterminism is the doctrine that not all events are wholly determined by antecedent causes. Even if indeterminism is true however, indeterminism itself is not enough to show that we have free will, because even if there are undetermined acts in the laws of physics, it must also be the case where there are undetermined events which shape or influence our acts. True libertarian free will is the ability to choose a course of action other than the one that is dictated by the laws of physics and the remote past. I suggest reading Peter Van Inwagen’s “An Essay On Free Will,” to determine the answer to whether we have free will or not. For most libertarians, Humans must be able to be a new cause and not just a cause in a long chain of causes and effects. To end with the ship analogy, the capacity to change the rudder to steer a new course against the winds and tides.
In my opinion, the greek notion of “telos” acknowledges the fact that we have many external factors surrounding us which try to steer us towards a particular fates, but if libertarian free will is true, ultimately we are the captain of our own ship, and can each day can birth new causes into the universe which over time will control our final outcome and destination.
