DETERMINISM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does determinism mean? 

• DETERMINISM (noun)
  The noun DETERMINISM has 1 sense:

1. (philosophy) a philosophical theory holding that all events are inevitable consequences of antecedent sufficient causes; often understood as denying the possibility of free will

  Familiarity information: DETERMINISM used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DETERMINISM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(philosophy) a philosophical theory holding that all events are inevitable consequences of antecedent sufficient causes; often understood as denying the possibility of free will

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("determinism" is a kind of...):

philosophical doctrine; philosophical theory (a doctrine accepted by adherents to a philosophy)

Domain category:

philosophy (the rational investigation of questions about existence and knowledge and ethics)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "determinism"):

fatalism (a philosophical doctrine holding that all events are predetermined in advance for all time and human beings are powerless to change them)

Derivation:

determinist (anyone who submits to the belief that they are powerless to change their destiny)

deterministic (an inevitable consequence of antecedent sufficient causes)