determinism
Americannoun
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the doctrine that all facts and events exemplify natural laws.
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the doctrine that all events, including human choices and decisions, have sufficient causes.
noun
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Also called: necessitarianism. the philosophical doctrine that all events including human actions and choices are fully determined by preceding events and states of affairs, and so that freedom of choice is illusory Compare free will
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the scientific doctrine that all occurrences in nature take place in accordance with natural laws
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the principle in classical mechanics that the values of dynamic variables of a system and of the forces acting on the system at a given time, completely determine the values of the variables at any later time
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of determinism
First recorded in 1840–50; determin(e) + -ism
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Vocabulary lists containing determinism
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Determinism the belief that human actions are governed by the laws of nature.
From Textbooks • Jun. 15, 2022
Determinism, physics-style, assumes that reality is strictly physical.
From Scientific American • Sep. 27, 2021
Defending Stephen Jay Gould's Crusade against Biological Determinism I used to be tough on Stephen Jay Gould, the great evolutionary biologist, who died in 2002.
From Scientific American • Jun. 24, 2011
An optimist from the word go � enemies say he even jumped the gun � Author Sinclair early joined battle with his life-long foe, Determinism.
From Time Magazine Archive
Determinism seems fairly obvious in this case, but Laplace went further to assume that there were similar laws governing everything else, including human behavior.
From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
