Definition

1. Noun:
   • A philosophical doctrine: The theory that all events, including human actions and choices, are completely determined by previously existing causes. It often implies that free will is an illusion because every event is the inevitable result of antecedent conditions and natural laws.

Usage

• General Statement: Determinism is a central concept in many philosophical and scientific discussions about causality and freedom.
• In Academic Contexts: The debate between determinism and free will is a classic problem in philosophy.

Examples

• Noun:
  • The scientist's belief in strict determinism left no room for random chance in the universe's operations.
  • If determinism is true, then our feeling of making a free choice is merely a product of complex prior causes.

Advanced Usage

• "Hard determinism": The position that determinism is true and incompatible with free will, therefore free will does not exist.
  • Hard determinism argues that moral responsibility is impossible because our actions are not freely chosen.
• "Soft determinism" (or compatibilism): The view that determinism is true and compatible with some form of free will, often by redefining free will as acting according to one's own desires and motivations.
  • Compatibilists attempt to reconcile determinism with our intuitive sense of freedom and responsibility.

Variants and Related Words

• Deterministic (adj): Relating to or operating according to the principle of determinism.
  • A deterministic universe follows predictable, cause-and-effect laws.
• Determinist (n): A person who believes in determinism.
  • The determinist argued that every decision was predestined by genetics and environment.

Synonyms

• Fatalism: The belief that all events are predetermined and therefore inevitable. (Note: Fatalism often has a more passive, resigned connotation than the causal, scientific focus of determinism.)
• Predestination: The doctrine that all events have been willed by a divine power, especially with regard to the ultimate fate of the human soul.

Antonyms

• Indeterminism: The philosophical doctrine that not all events are causally determined, allowing for genuine chance or free will.
• Libertarianism (in metaphysics): The belief in free will, asserting that individuals have the power to make genuinely free choices that are not determined by prior causes.

Noun

1. (philosophy) a philosophical theory holding that all events are inevitable consequences of antecedent sufficient causes; often understood as denying the possibility of free will