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Chapter 14 - Purpose as a Timeless Pursuit

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 October 2025

Patrick Hill
Affiliation:
Washington University, St Louis
Anthony L. Burrow
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
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Summary

Envisioning the experience and study of purpose as timeless pursuits, this chapter is used to imagine five transformative trajectories likely to guide purpose scholarship in the years ahead.

These trajectories aim to deepen understanding of purpose across cultural landscapes, against a backdrop of emerging technologies, and amid profound societal changes. They also strive to illuminate innovative solutions for helping more people feel purposeful while unifying diverse intellectual perspectives on purpose that can be leveraged to that end. To close out this volume with these trajectories is to hope they serve as beacons for researchers, practitioners, and lay readers alike, respectful of where purpose inquiry has been, is currently, and is likely heading.

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Chapter
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Purpose In Life As Ancient but Nascent
Perspectives from Psychology, Philosophy, and Human Development
, pp. 290 - 297
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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References

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