Determinism it is a philosophical concept which says are all the facts cause-based, that is, the entire event is governed by the determination, whether of a natural or supernatural character.
The term determinism arose from the verb "to determine", which comes from the Latin determinee, which literally means "not to end" or "not to limit". Briefly, determinism is a current of thought that defends the idea that decisions are human choices do not happen according to free will, but through relationships of chance.
Everything in the universe, according to determinism, is limited to immutable laws, that is, all facts and human actions are predetermined by nature, with "freedom of choice" being a mere illusion of life.
In the Modern Age, determinism was used as a concept to explain the Universe, mainly to try to understand natural phenomena. According to this theory, it would be possible to "predict" future events based on current facts, since all reality would be interconnected by common purposes; reality is fixed, that is, what is predicted to happen will happen.
Types of Determinism
Several types of concepts for determinism were created, based on the way in which causality and determination are understood:
- Pre-determinism: is considered a mechanistic determinism, that is, the determination of causes is placed in the past, the present and future events being causes of phenomena explained in initial conditions of the universe.
- Post-determinism: it is based on teleology, the philosophical study of purposes and ends. This model of determinism claims that the determination of facts is in the future, that is, everything happens according to a purpose or reason of some divine entity that does not belong to the universe human; the "will of gods", for example.
- Co-determinism: similar to Chaos Theory, co-determinism defends the occasional relation of causes as generators of new realities. For example, the effects of one cause can become the causes of other effects, of a reality different from the previous causes. In this model, determinism is placed in the present or simultaneity of processes.
Determinism and Freedom
O determinism is the target of much criticism among researchers and philosophers who defend the concept of free choice and free will; a non-casuality.
Critics assert their point of view claiming that spirit, soul, desire, choice, and will human beings do not coexist in the same casual universe of nature, therefore, they are not governed by the same laws immutable.
However, determinists counter critics with the argument that they ignore co-determinism, that is, the concept that there are relationships between several different realities, whether molecular, social, planetary, psychic and etc.
There are other scholars, such as Nietzsche and Deleuze, who do not interpret determinism and freedom as contradictory. Freedom would not be "free will", but the capacity for creation. In this sense, "free will" would only be the choice between options that have been determined since the beginning, that have already been created. Therefore, this principle (determination already existing in the past) is characteristic of pre-determinism.