Indeed, most telic versions of development do take such a view. But it is
possible to imagine telic theories of development that postulate multiple
endpoints. I think Carol Gilligan's theory is an example of a telic theory
with two endpoints, though she might not frame it that way. In her view,
there are two voices that may develop as part of one's repertoire for posing
and solving moral dilemmas. One is oriented toward "care," and she outlines
some set of stages in its development in _In a different voice_ (1982). The
other is the "justice" voice, for which Kohlberg has outlined a developmental
pathway.
I guess I am reluctant to get away from the notion of telos in part because I
think that psychologists' conceptions of the way things are slip so easily
into descriptions of how things ought to be, and I'd rather our theories be
explicit in this regard. And I agree with Jay's criticisms about the limits
of viewing development from the endpoint only, but examining explicit and
implicit teloi of development usually helps me see how theories more often
than not "hang from their apexes" (to borrow from Carol Gilligan) rather than
are inductively derived.
Bill Penuel
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