nomics in 1912 and went on to serve as the director of
the Ratan Tata Foundation at the school.
While at the London School of Economics, Tawney
published a number of influential works on the econ-
omy, including The Acquisitive Society(1920), Religion
and the Rise of Capitalism(1926), and Equality(1931).
Tawney often emphasized that acquisitiveness in a
CAPITALIST society corrupted society because it pro-
vided an immoral motivating factor. In addition,
Tawney believed that the inherent greed of capitalism
deprived workers of the true value of their work. As
such, workers lost any pride in their occupation
because labor simply became a means to achieve mate-
rial possessions.
In Religion and the Rise of Capitalism,Tawney exam-
ined the relationship between capitalism and CALVIN-
ISM. The socialist author sought to discredit the
perceived positive benefits of the “Protestant work
ethic” and present the flaws of capitalism, as well as
the uneasy relationship between organized religion
and commerce. He became a full professor in 1931 and
taught in London until his retirement in 1949.
As an expert on early capitalism and a leading
socialist economist, Tawney was an important advisor
to the Labor Party and campaigned vigorously for a
number of reforms, including the establishment of a
minimum wage. In addition to economic and political
policy, Tawney helped develop educational policy. His
most prominent achievements centered around the
lengthening of required public education and expand-
ing workers’ education. Some of his most famous later
works dealt with education, including Secondary Edu-
cation for All(1922) and Education: The Socialist Policy
(1924). He also often gave speeches and addresses to
the WEA and other labor organizations.
Further Reading
Wright, A. R. H. Tawney.Manchester, Eng.: Manchester Univer-
sity Press, 1987.
teleology/teleological
An approach in philosophy holding that everything
has an internal goal, purpose, or “end” (Greek: telos)
to which it naturally strives. ARISTOTLEoriginated the
teleological view of nature and politics, later developed
in NATURAL LAW philosophy (especially St. Thomas
AQUINAS). In this perspective, everything in the uni-
verse is designed by God with a given purpose, which
it strives to fulfill. A frequent example is the acorn,
whose telosis a fully grown, healthy oak tree. This
development is internal but requires external condi-
tions (proper sunlight, rain, soil, etc.). Humankinds’
telos, for Aristotle, is becoming a fully developed,
mature, rational, social human being. This is innate
human nature in potential but requires a careful envi-
ronment and education (in the family, the community,
and politics). Human reason, speech, and morals are
most developed, for Aristotle, in the POLIS, or small
DEMOCRATICcommunity, in which all CITIZENSpartici-
pate. This, along with the ideal of a public-spirited
gentleman, forms the person’s capacity for judgment,
thought, deliberation, and governing. A society full of
such excellent individuals creates a happy, just STATE.
St. Thomas Aquinas simply imposes a Christian cos-
mology on Aristotle’s teleology by making the human
purpose to know and glorify God.
Such a teleological view believes that humans’
capacities are given (not individually chosen) and that
their fruition depends on definite objective criteria
(not individual preferences). The training of the young
becomes especially important in this natural-law per-
spective.terrorism
Deliberate VIOLENCE against a government or social
system that is designed to strike terror or fear in the
citizenry or state leaders and to accomplish some
political change. Examples might include Arab terror-
ists, who bomb government and military buildings in
Israel or the United States to assert the political claims
of Palestinians in the Middle East. Often, innocent
civilians are the victims of terrorist attacks that are
designed to frighten and demoralize an enemy. Other
terrorist acts include taking people hostage, destroying
public buildings, and assassinating governmental offi-
cials.
Terrorist actions are often conceived as part of a
larger strategy for revolutionary overthrow of an exist-
ing regime. V. I. LENIN, leader of the Soviet COMMUNIST
revolution, included terrorism with deception, bribery,
propaganda, and armed uprising to weaken the czarist
Russian state. Anarchists believe that a terrorist act can
ignite a spontaneous rebellion against all authority.
In recent years, terrorist acts have occurred around
the world by a variety of groups. In the United States,
the worst terrorist violence was by an American espous-
ing radical RIGHT-WINGideas who killed hundreds in a
bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma. Most gov-292 teleology/teleological