The autotelic and the dialogic: Invitations to self-transformation

Abstract

A core concept of Tully's critical enterprise is the idea of the autotelic act—an act and activity in which the purpose or end is immanent in the act itself. In this response, I ask how autotelic practice relates to the project of dialogue. Tully demonstrates that inner work is necessary to prepare the self/subject trained in Western philosophy to acknowledge and confront various forms of self-deception. To draw out the relationship of autotelic practice, or work on self, to the dialogic, the interactive work between people and traditions, I reflect on their relationship in satyagraha as theorized by Gandhi and Richard Gregg. The training and self-discipline involved in construction are intrinsically important for long-term ethical change and they also function as preparation for the work of contestation. My supplement is to place as much weight on satyagraha as resistance and clarify the distinctive and unique process of autotelic transformation at work in scenes of dynamic interaction.