determinism

[dih-tur-muh-niz-uh m] /dɪˈtɜr məˌnɪz əm/
noun
1.
the doctrine that all facts and events exemplify natural laws.
2.
the doctrine that all events, including human choices and decisions, have sufficient causes.
Origin
1840-50; determine + -ism
Related forms
determinist, noun, adjective
deterministic, adjective
deterministically, adverb
nondeterminist, noun, adjective
nondeterministic, adjective
semideterministic, adjective
Can be confused
determinism, fatalism, necessitarianism.
Examples from the web for deterministic
  • There is already a backlash against genomics, which has been oversold to consumers as a deterministic science.
  • deterministic does not necessarily means with external causes.
  • To some scholars, however, this narrative is deterministic.
  • In a deterministic world, the answer is obvious-never cheat.
  • There was nothing deterministic about its fall, with better leadership it likely would have survived.
  • Hereditary causes are probabilistic, not deterministic.
  • And that they believe deterministic outputs are scientifically correct.
  • Completely deterministic dynamics could be chaotic, exponentially sensitive and unstable with respect to its current status.
  • It is a deterministic walk with available investment money flowing between competing investment areas.
  • Yet no one denies that toddlers are composed of particles that behave according to deterministic laws.
British Dictionary definitions for deterministic

determinism

/dɪˈtɜːmɪˌnɪzəm/
noun
1.
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 (sense 1b)
2.
the scientific doctrine that all occurrences in nature take place in accordance with natural laws
3.
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
Derived Forms
determinist, noun, adjective
deterministic, adjective
Word Origin and History for deterministic
adj.

1874, from determinist (see determinism) + -ic.

determinism

n.

1846, in theology (lack of free will); 1876 in general sense of "doctrine that everything happens by a necessary causation," from French déterminisme, from German Determinismus, perhaps a back-formation from Praedeterminismus (see determine).

deterministic in Medicine

determinism de·ter·min·ism (dĭ-tûr'mə-nĭz'əm)
n.
The philosophical doctrine that every event, act, and decision is the inevitable consequence of antecedents, such as genetic and environmental influences, that are independent of the human will.

deterministic in Culture

determinism definition


In ethics, the view that human actions are entirely controlled by previous conditions, operating under laws of nature. Determinism is often understood as ruling out free will.

deterministic in Technology


1. Describes a system whose time evolution can be predicted exactly.
Contrast probabilistic.
2. Describes an algorithm in which the correct next step depends only on the current state. This contrasts with an algorithm involving backtracking where at each point there may be several possible actions and no way to chose between them except by trying each one and backtracking if it fails.
(1995-09-22)