What is "determinism"

Determinism \De*ter"min*ism\, n. (Metaph.) The doctrine that the will is not free, but is inevitably and invincibly determined by motives, preceding events, and natural laws.

Its superior suitability to produce courage, as contrasted with scientific physical determinism, is obvious.
--F. P. Cobbe.

1846, in theology (lack of free will); 1876 in general sense of "doctrine that everything happens by a necessary causation," from French déterminisme, from German Determinismus, perhaps a back-formation from Praedeterminismus (see determine).

n. 1 (context ethics English) The doctrine that all actions are determined by the current state and immutable laws of the universe, with no possibility of choice. 2 (context computing English) The property of having behavior determined only by initial state and input.

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

Determinism is the philosophical doctrine that all events transpire in virtue of some necessity and are therefore inevitable. Traditionally, the view relies on strict notions of causality, and most philosophical arguments in its favor have attempted at clear definitions of cause and effect as a basis for the belief that determinism is true. Notably, the idea that the past choices of seemingly rational agents could have been performed differently - or even the idea that the future decisions of such agents will turn out to be other than what they will - is usually challenged under this view. Thus, the "problem" of free will - or the idea of free will as being an "illusion" - often arises as a result of the main claim made by determinism, that is, that the past, present, and future is identifiable as an essentially unbreakable chain of circumstances of which no single link in such a chain could possibly be avoided or altered. Some determinists deny the idea of any true "possibility" or "randomness" within reality altogether, even asserting that such ideas are only a creation of the mind and/or merely the result of imagination - ultimately a result of ignorance in the face of real explanations for such phenomena - which could otherwise, in principle, be discovered by either reason or empirical experimentation. However, addressing free will is its own concern, and any discussion of determinism does not demand any discussion of free will. In addition to these issues, the length to which language can actually capture what exactly is at stake, assuming that anything is at stake at all - or even what the true nature of reality really is in spite of how convincing the nature of the concept of determinism seems to be - is itself disputed. This final note verges on - or fully engages in - the territory of the philosophy of language.

The truth of determinism is often acknowledged - at bottom - as a belief, rather than a fact or scientifically viable theory or law. This implies that its supposed truth would always be restricted to philosophical speculation and argumentation rather than by scientific demonstration or formally proven within the mathematical basis of physics or even within theoretical physics. There are those who doubt this claim, and instead view the truth of determinism to follow suit with other revolutions throughout history, such as the theory of relativity or the theory of evolution.

Whether or not determinism poses a real threat to traditional notions of responsibility, morality, or legal process is disputed among philosophers. As contentious as this is also whether the truth of determinism introduces any challenges to meaning and purposeful effort - or the value of decision making and seemingly important life choices - most notably in the form of nihilism or fatalism. This perspective is represented by philosophers such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Noam Chomsky, among others. Just the opposite is also argued, that determinism actually posits a more meaningful aspect to life, in the form of rational optimism, usually in the form of celebrating the idea that everything happens for a reason, as well as the idea that one need not fully regret one's past experience if it had to have been necessarily carried out as it was. Proponents of this view include Baruch Spinoza and Friedrich Nietzsche, among others. Also, many philosophers argue that determinism does not imply any kind of fatalism, as particular events hold no weight to its universality, and thus notions of "destiny" are irrelevant to its truth - which is that all events are inevitable, but not necessarily purposeful or toward a final cause.

The above description on the diverse nature of discussions on determinism, then, generally break into two categories of consideration - that of the truth or falsity of determinism proper, and that of its consequences for life. The former usually involves argumentation within metaphysics, and the latter, that of its ethical, political, and existential relevance.

"There are many determinisms, depending on what pre-conditions are considered to be determinative of an event or action." Deterministic theories throughout the history of philosophy have sprung from diverse and sometimes overlapping motives and considerations. Some forms of determinism can be empirically tested with ideas from physics and the philosophy of physics. The opposite of determinism is some kind of indeterminism (otherwise called nondeterminism). Determinism is often contrasted with free will.

Determinism often is taken to mean causal determinism, which in physics is known as cause-and-effect. It is the concept that events within a given paradigm are bound by causality in such a way that any state (of an object or event) is completely determined by prior states. This meaning can be distinguished from other varieties of determinism mentioned below.

Other debates often concern the scope of determined systems, with some maintaining that the entire universe is a single determinate system and others identifying other more limited determinate systems (or multiverse). Numerous historical debates involve many philosophical positions and varieties of determinism. They include debates concerning determinism and free will, technically denoted as compatibilistic (allowing the two to coexist) and incompatibilistic (denying their coexistence is a possibility).

Determinism is the philosophical position that for every event there exist conditions that could cause no other event.

Determinism has many meanings in different fields: