determinism
pronunciation
How to pronounce determinism in British English:
UK [dɪˈtɜ:mɪnɪzəm]
How to pronounce determinism in American English:
US [dɪˈtɜrmɪnɪzəm]
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- Noun:
- (philosophy) a philosophical theory holding that all events are inevitable consequences of antecedent sufficient causes; often understood as denying the possibility of free will
Word Origin
- determinism (n.)
- 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).
Example
- 1. Such determinism was characteristic of post-cold war thinking .
- 2. Human agency can triumph over determinism .
- 3. These authors call this concept structural determinism .
- 4. The first involves the fear that genetic determinism cheapens human volition .
- 5. Biological determinism doesn 't hold up as a defence in law .