Definition

1. Noun:
   • A philosophical and scientific concept: "clockwork universe" refers to the view or model that the universe operates like a precise mechanical clock. It suggests the cosmos is a deterministic system, set in motion by a creator (often God) and governed entirely by fixed, knowable laws of nature, particularly those of Newtonian mechanics.

Usage

• Noun:
  • The idea of a clockwork universe was dominant during the Enlightenment.
  • Newton's laws of motion helped solidify the clockwork universe model in scientific thought.

Advanced Usage

• "the clockwork universe model": Refers to the specific theoretical framework.
  • Deism often embraced the clockwork universe model, where God was the watchmaker who set the mechanism in motion and then did not intervene.
• "challenge the clockwork universe": To question or oppose this deterministic view.
  • Theories of quantum mechanics began to challenge the classical idea of a clockwork universe.

Variants and Related Words

• Mechanistic universe: A closely related term emphasizing the machine-like, deterministic nature of the cosmos.
• Determinism: The philosophical doctrine that all events, including human action, are ultimately determined by causes external to the will, which is a core tenet of the clockwork universe view.

Synonyms

• Mechanistic model of the universe
• Newtonian universe

Related Phrases

• Watchmaker analogy: A common argument for the existence of God, closely associated with the clockwork universe concept, which posits that the complexity of the universe implies a designer, just as a watch implies a watchmaker.

Noun

1. the view that the universe resembles a clock built by God and ticking along according to Newtonian mechanics