determinism

Noun

determinism (countable and uncountable, plural determinisms)

1. The doctrine that all actions are determined by the current state and immutable laws of the universe, with no possibility of choice.
   • In 1903 there appeared Problems of Idealism, a collection of essays many of whose authors had recently been Marxists, but which condemned Marxism and materialism for their moral nihilism, contempt of personality, determinism, and fanatical pursuit of social values regardless of the individuals who...1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume II: The Golden Age, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: rozwój (in...
   • Pereboom’s book presents probably the best available argument for hard incompatibilism (the view that free will is not compatible with causal determinism), and his defence of the sourcehood view is just part of this overall argument.2015 January 1, John Danaher, “The Free Will Debate: Sourcehood or Alternative Possibilities?”, in Philosophical Disquisitions

   Synonyms:

   fatalism

   Antonyms:

   indeterminism

2. The property of having behavior determined only by initial state and input.

   Antonyms:

   indeterminism