necessitarianism

American  

[nuh-ses-i-tair-ee-uh-niz-uhm] / nəˌsɛs ɪˈtɛər i əˌnɪz əm /

noun

1. the doctrine that all events, including acts of the will, are determined by antecedent causes; determinism.

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necessitarianism British  

/ ˌnɛsɪˈsɛərɪəˌnɪzəm, nɪˌsɛsɪˈtɛərɪəˌnɪzəm /

noun

1. philosophy another word for determinism Compare libertarian

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Other Word Forms

• necessitarian noun

Etymology

Origin of necessitarianism

First recorded in 1850–55; necessitarian + -ism

Example Sentences

Abelard's necessitarianism and Gilbert's Spinozism, if Bernard understood them right, were equally impossible theology, and the Church could by no evasion escape the necessity of condemning both.

From Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres by Adams, Henry

But the political reconstruction which he proposes is too much determined by this old nightmare of necessitarianism.

From What I Saw in America by Chesterton, G. K. (Gilbert Keith)

It is opposed to the various doctrines of Free-Will, known as voluntarism, libertarianism, indeterminism, and is from the ethical standpoint more or less akin to necessitarianism and fatalism.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 3 "Destructors" to "Diameter" by Various

But then the Daily News suddenly lights up the gloom of necessitarianism with bright beams of hope.

From Culture and Anarchy by Arnold, Matthew

His necessitarianism is modern, his scepticism is modern, and the difficulties in which it arises are modern too.

From The Age of Tennyson by Walker, Hugh