determinism

CEFRB2

/dɪˈtɜːmɪnɪzəm/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    The belief that events are caused by forces beyond human control.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

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

Examples

  • The philosopher discussed the concept of environmental determinism in class.

  • Determinism was a major philosophical concept.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
3
Parts of speech
1
Citations
1
Synonyms
1

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meaning

  1. The doctrine that all actions are determined by the current state and immutable laws of the universe, with no possibility of choice.

More examples

In context

  • He believed in a strict determinism.

  • 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.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

Philosophers argue that blank would eliminate all human free will.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

Borrowed from French déterminisme, equivalent to determine + -ism.