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Determinism Definition Philosophers amp
the theory that everything that happens must happen as it does and could not have happened any. Do you believe you have free will? Yet at the same time, if you believe in science then all events have causes, following natural laws; in which case, how can you have free will? Are not your body and brain physical systems, fully determined by natural law? Determinism is the philosophy that all events, whether involving inanimate matter or conscious beings like humans, are completely determined by previous events. The most central idea in this determinism is causality cause-and-effect ; if the universe is purely physical and all physical events are caused , according to natural laws, then it would seem that determinism must be true, or at least so it was believed until quantum mechanics was discovered and threw a wrench into this argument see section four. Determinism Wikipedia Determinism Wikipedia
. Accessed 8 Oct. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! See Definitions and Examples ». Log In. Examples of determinism in a Sentence. Recent Examples on the Web Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. DETERMINISM Definition amp Meaning
Deterministic theories throughout the history of philosophy have developed from diverse and sometimes overlapping motives and considerations. Determinism is the philosophical proposition that every event, decision and action is causally determined by an unbroken chain of prior occurrences. This does not necessarily mean that humans have no influence on the future and its events a position more correctly known as Fatalism , but that the level to which humans have influence over their future is itself dependent on present and past. Taken to its logical extreme, Determinism would argue that the initial Big Bang triggered every single action, and possibly mental thought, through a system of cause and effect. Thus, a Materialist or Physicalist view of the universe almost always involves some degree of Determinism. However, if the minds or souls of conscious beings are considered as separate entities see the section on Philosophy of Mind , the position on Determinism becomes more complex. 
Determinism Definition and examples
First of all, determinism is not the view that free actions are impossible. Causal determinism is, roughly speaking, the idea that every event is necessitated by antecedent events and conditions together with the laws of nature. The idea is ancient, but first became subject to clarification and mathematical analysis in the eighteenth century. Determinism is deeply connected with our understanding of the physical sciences and their explanatory ambitions, on the one hand, and with our views about human free action on the other. In both of these general areas there is no agreement over whether determinism is true or even whether it can be known true or false , and what the import for human agency would be in either case. In most of what follows, I will speak simply of determinism , rather than of causal determinism.