determinism

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determinism

determinism philosophical thesis that every event is the inevitable result of antecedent causes. Applied to ethics and psychology, determinism usually involves a denial of free will , although many philosophers have attempted to reconcile the two concepts. Thomas Hobbes, identifying the will with appetites and defining freedom as the absence of impediments, concluded that free will exists where nothing prevents a person from satisfying his prevailing appetite. David Hume argued that a person's willful conduct counts as freely chosen even though his will has itself been determined by his motives. William James called such attempts to fit notions of free will into determinist systems "soft" determinism; "hard" determinism excludes the possibility of free will altogether. The doctrine of determinism is opposed by the principle of emergence, which states that truly novel and unpredictable events may occur out of the composite forces of nature.

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"determinism." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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determinism

A Dictionary of Sociology | 1998 | | Â© A Dictionary of Sociology 1998, originally published by Oxford University Press 1998. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

determinism See BIOLOGICAL REDUCTIONISM; CULTURE AND PERSONALITY SCHOOL; ECONOMIC DETERMINISM; HISTORICISM; LABELLING; SOCIAL AREA ANALYSIS; SOCIOBIOLOGY; TECHNOLOGICAL DETERMINISM.

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Determinism

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church | 2000 | | Â© The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church 2000, originally published by Oxford University Press 2000. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Determinism. The view that all events (including human actions) are somehow inevitable or necessitated. See also PREDESTINATION.

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E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "Determinism." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "Determinism." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (November 11, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O95-Determinism.html

E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "Determinism." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Retrieved November 11, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O95-Determinism.html

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