by Frances Stanford

Created on: May 28, 2009   Last Updated: January 14, 2010

Determinism is the view that all events conform to unchanging laws and occur in a regular and orderly manner. Quite often it is called causal determinism, which means that every event has a cause and the events of the future can be predicted by applying these causal laws to existing situations.

Determinism arose as early philosophers looked to find universal laws that would explain the regular events and changes that took place in nature. Democritus, one of these early determinists, held that all things are the necessary result of the combination and separation of atoms falling through space. The Roman philosopher, Epictetus, took the view that all human actions are predetermined by fate.

On some occasions throughout history, determinism has affected the thinking of religious leaders leading them to try to find a way of reconciling their own beliefs on the ethics of man's free will with that of the philosophy that every action one takes is the result of other causes. In the early days of the Christian Church, the Greek deterministic thought played a role in the theological theories that were put forth. In the 5th century, St. Augustine, for example, taught that although man acts of his own free will, the actions are predetermined by God to enable man to make good choices. John Calvin was another strong determinist and argued that man does not have free will at all and that his eternal fate is predetermined by God at the time of his birth.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, determinism came to the forefront with the development of physical sciences. Newton's laws of gravity are based on this philosophical thought. His laws of motion explain the movement of objects in a manner that enables man to understand the universe as a huge mechanism in space with parts that move according to mathematical regularity.

The social sciences that have developed in the 19th and 20th centuries also follow determinism. Anthropologists hold that one's actions are determined by culture and upbringing. Economists also follow this philosophy. Critics of capitalism, such as David Ricardo, hold the view that the capitalist market conditions inevitably cause the workers' wages to decline to the lowest level on which they are able to survive. The writings of Karl Marx are classic examples of economic determinism and suggest that the economic organization of society determine its politics, religion and literature as well as other facets of society.

Quantum physics has led to determinism losing ground in recent the 20th and 21st centuries as more and more scientists have come to accept indeterministic principles concerning the manner in which subatomic particles perform. It does remain a largely influential in philosophy and science in general.

Learn more about this author, Frances Stanford.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.