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Determinism (also called antiserendipity) is the philosophical proposition that every event, including human cognition and behaviour, decision and action, is causally determined by an unbroken chain of prior occurrences. A related article is titled Uncertainty. For statistical certainty see Probability. Nihilism (from the Latin nihil, nothing is a philosophical position that argues that Existence is without objective meaning Purpose Agnosticism ( Greek: α- a-, without + γνώσις gnōsis, knowledge after Gnosticism) is the philosophical view that the Uncertainty is a term used in subtly different ways in a number of fields including Philosophy, Statistics, Economics, Finance, Insurance Probability is the likelihood or chance that something is the case or will happen An approximation (represented by the symbol ≈ is an inexact representation of something that is still close enough to be useful Belief is the psychological state in which an individual holds a Proposition or Premise to be true Epistemology (from Greek επιστήμη - episteme, "knowledge" + λόγος, " Logos " or theory of knowledge A related article is titled Uncertainty. For statistical certainty see Probability. Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language In Logic and Philosophy, proposition refers to either (a the content or Meaning of a meaningful Declarative sentence Causality (but not causation) denotes a necessary relationship between one event (called cause and another event (called effect) which is the direct consequence A chain of events is a number of actions and their effects that are Contiguous and linked together ^[1] With numerous historical debates, many varieties and philosophical positions on the subject of determinism exist from traditions throughout the world.

Contents 1 Philosophy of determinism 2 The nature of determinism 2.1 Varieties of determinism 2.2 Determinism with regard to Ethics 2.3 Determinism in Eastern tradition 2.4 Determinism in Western tradition 2.5 Minds and bodies 3 Modern perspectives on determinism 3.1 Determinism and a first cause 3.2 Determinism and generative processes 3.3 Determinism in mathematical models 4 Arguments against determinism 4.1 Determinism, quantum mechanics and classical physics 4.2 First cause 5 See also 6 Notes 7 References and bibliography 8 External links

Philosophy of determinism

It is a popular misconception that determinism necessarily entails that humanity or individual humans have no influence on the future and its events (a position known as Fatalism); however, determinists believe that the level to which human beings have influence over their future is itself dependent on present and past. Fatalism is a Philosophical doctrine emphasizing the subjugation of all events or actions to fate or inevitable predetermination Causal determinism is associated with, and relies upon, the ideas of Materialism and Causality. The Philosophy of materialism holds that the only thing that can be truly proven to exist is Matter, and is considered a form of Physicalism. Causality (but not causation) denotes a necessary relationship between one event (called cause and another event (called effect) which is the direct consequence Some of the philosophers who have dealt with this issue are Steven M. Cahn, Omar Khayyám, Thomas Hobbes, Baruch Spinoza, Gottfried Leibniz, David Hume, Baron d'Holbach (Paul Heinrich Dietrich), Pierre-Simon Laplace, Arthur Schopenhauer, William James, Friedrich Nietzsche and, more recently, John Searle, Ted Honderich, and Daniel Dennett. For the Thoroughbred racehorse see Omar Khayyam (horse Ghiyās od-Dīn Abol-Fath Omār ibn Ebrāhīm Khayyām Neyshābūri (غیاث الدین Thomas Hobbes (born 5 April 1588died 4 December 1679 was an English philosopher, whose famous 1651 book Leviathan established the foundation Baruch or Benedict de Spinoza (ברוך שפינוזה Bento de Espinosa Benedictus de Spinoza ( November 24, 1632 – February 21, David Hume (26 April 1711 25 August 1776 Scottish Philosopher, Economist, and Historian is an important figure in Western philosophy Paul-Henri Thiry baron d'Holbach ( 1723 – 1789) was a French - German Author, Philosopher and Encyclopedist. For other people named William James see William James (disambiguation William James (January 11 1842 – August 26 1910 was a pioneering Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (October 15 1844 August 25 1900 ( was a nineteenth-century German philosopher and classical philologist John Rogers Searle (born July 31 1932 in Denver Colorado) is an American Philosopher and the Slusser Professor of Philosophy at the University Ted Honderich (born 1933 is a British philosopher Grote Professor Emeritus of the Philosophy of Mind and Logic University College London and Visiting Professor Daniel Clement Dennett (born March 28 1942 in Boston, Massachusetts) is a prominent American philosopher whose research

Mecca Chiesa notes that the probabilistic or selectionistic determinism of B.F. Skinner comprised a wholly separate conception of determinism that was not mechanistic at all. Burrhus Frederic Skinner ( March 20, 1904 &ndash August 18 1990) was an influential American Psychologist, author In Philosophy, mechanism is a Theory that all natural phenomena can be explained by physical causes ^[2] A mechanistic determinism would assume that every event has an unbroken chain of prior occurrences, but a selectionistic or probabilistic model does not. ^[3][4]

The nature of determinism

The exact meaning of the term determinism has historically been subject to several interpretations. Some, called Incompatibilists, view determinism and free will as mutually exclusive. For other uses of each of these words see Compatibility. Compatibilism is the belief that Free will and Determinism are In simple terms two events are mutually exclusive if they cannot occur at the same time (i The belief that free will is an illusion is known as Hard Determinism. Others, labeled Compatibilists, (or Soft Determinists) believe that the two ideas can be coherently reconciled. For other uses of each of these words see Compatibility. Compatibilism is the belief that Free will and Determinism are Incompatibilists who accept free will but reject determinism are called Libertarians — not to be confused with the political sense. The question of free will Libertarianism is a philosophical position in Metaphysics with respect to Free will and Determinism. Most of this disagreement is due to the fact that the definition of free will, like that of determinism, varies. Some feel it refers to the metaphysical truth of independent agency, whereas others simply define it as the feeling of agency that humans experience when they act. Metaphysics is the branch of Philosophy investigating principles of reality transcending those of any particular science Agency is a Philosophical concept of the capacity of an agent to act in a world

Ted Honderich, in his book How Free Are You? - The Determinism Problem gives the following summary of the theory of determinism:

In its central part, determinism is the theory that our choices and decisions and what gives rise to them are effects. What the theory comes to therefore depends on what effects are taken to be. . . [I]t is effects that seem fundamental to the subject of determinism and how it affects our lives. ^[5]

Varieties of determinism

Causal (or nomological) determinism is the thesis that future events are necessitated by past and present events combined with the laws of nature. Such determinism is sometimes illustrated by the thought experiment of Laplace's demon. A thought experiment (from the German Gedankenexperiment) is a proposal for an Experiment that would test a Hypothesis or Theory In the History of science, Laplace's demon is a hypothetical "demon" envisioned in 1814 by Pierre-Simon Laplace such that if it knew the precise location Imagine an entity that knows all facts about the past and the present, and knows all natural laws that govern the universe. Such an entity might, under certain circumstances, be able to use this knowledge to foresee the future, down to the smallest detail. ^[6] Simon-Pierre Laplace's determinist dogma (as described by Stephen Hawking) is generally referred to as "scientific determinism" and predicated on the supposition that all events have a cause and effect and the precise combination of events at a particular time engender a particular outcome. [2]. This causal determinism has a direct relationship with predictability. Predictability (also called banality) refers to the degree that a correct Prediction or Forecast of a System 's state can be made either (Perfect) predictability implies strict determinism, but lack of predictability does not necessarily imply lack of determinism. Limitations on predictability could alternatively be caused by factors such as a lack of information or excessive complexity. An example of this could be found by looking at a bomb dropping from the air. Through mathematics, we can predict the time the bomb will take to reach the ground, and we also know what will happen once the bomb explodes. Any small errors in prediction might arise from our not measuring some factors, such as puffs of wind or variations in air temperature along the bomb's path.

Logical determinism is the notion that all propositions, whether about the past, present or future, are either true or false. In Logic and Philosophy, proposition refers to either (a the content or Meaning of a meaningful Declarative sentence The problem of free will, in this context, is the problem of how choices can be free, given that what one does in the future is already determined as true or false in the present.

Additionally, there is environmental determinism, also known as climatic or geographical determinism which holds the view that the physical environment, rather than social conditions, determines culture. Environmental determinism, also known as climatic determinism or geographical determinism, is the view that the physical environment rather than social conditions Those who believe this view say that humans are strictly defined by stimulus-response (environment-behavior) and cannot deviate. Key proponents of this notion have included Ellen Churchill Semple, Ellsworth Huntington, Thomas Griffith Taylor and possibly Jared Diamond, although his status as an environmental determinist is debated. ^[7]

Biological determinism is the idea that all behavior, belief, and desire are fixed by our genetic endowment. Biological determinism, also called genetic determinism is the Hypothesis that biological factors such as an organism's individual genes (as opposed to social or environmental There are other theses on determinism, including cultural determinism and the narrower concept of psychological determinism. Cultural determinism is the belief that the culture in which we are raised determines who we are at emotional and behavioral levels Dr Daniel Bader discusses two forms of psychological determinism. Combinations and syntheses of determinist theses, e. g. bio-environmental determinism, are even more common. Addiction Specialist Dr. Drew Pinski relates addiction to biological determinism:

"Absolutely. It's a complex disorder, but it clearly has a genetic basis. In fact, in the definition of the disease, we consider genetics absolutely a crucial piece of the definition. So the definition as stated in a consensus conference that was published in the early '90s, it's a genetic disorder with a biological basis. The hallmark is the progressive use in the face of adverse consequence, and then finally denial. "

Theological determinism is the thesis that there is a God who determines all that humans will do, either by knowing their actions in advance, via some form of omniscience^[8] or by decreeing their actions in advance. Theological determinism is the religious view that all events in the world were pre-ordained by God. A dissertation (also called thesis or disquisition) is a document that presents the author's Research and findings and is submitted in support of candidature God is the principal or sole Deity in Religions and other belief systems that worship one deity. Omniscience (ɒm'nɪsɪəns (or Omniscient Point-of-View in writing is the capacity to know everything infinitely or at least everything that can be known about a character ^[9] The problem of free will, in this context, is the problem of how our actions can be free, if there is a being who has determined them for us ahead of time.

Determinism with regard to Ethics

Some hold that, were determinism true, it would negate human morals and ethics. Counter to this argument, some would say that determinism is simply the sum of empirical scientific findings, making it devoid of subjectivism. Morals and Ethics do not hold the universal permanence that physical rules do (like magnetism polarity), but their very existence can also mean they were an inevitable product themselves. That, possibly through an extended period of social development, a confluence of events formed to generate the very idea of morals and ethics in our minds. In other words, all events that actually occur are unavoidable, proven by the fact that these events do, in fact, occur. The "chicken before the egg?" debate manifests again, here.

Determinism in Eastern tradition

The idea that the entire universe is a deterministic system has been articulated in both Eastern and non-Eastern religion, philosophy, and literature. A deterministic system is a conceptual model of the philosophical Doctrine of Determinism applied to a System for understanding everything that Determinism has been expressed in the Buddhist doctrine of Dependent Origination, which states that every phenomenon is conditioned by, and depends on, the phenomena that it is not. Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices The doctrine of pratītyasamutpāda (Sanskrit paticcasamuppāda; rten A common teaching story, called Indra's Net, illustrates this point using a metaphor. Indra's net (also called Indra's jewels or Indra's pearls is a Metaphor used to illustrate the concepts of emptiness, dependent origination, and A vast auditorium is decorated with mirrors and/or prisms hanging on strings of different lengths from an immense number of points on the ceiling. One flash of light is sufficient to light the entire display since light bounces and bends from hanging bauble to hanging bauble. Each bauble lights each and every other bauble. So, too, each of us is "lit" by each and every other entity in the Universe. In Buddhism, this teaching is used to demonstrate that to ascribe special value to any one thing is to ignore the interdependence of all things. Volitions of all sentient creatures determine the seeming reality in which we perceive ourself as living, rather than a mechanical universe determining the volitions which humans imagine themselves to be forming. Sentience is the ability to feel or perceive subjectively. It is an important concept in the philosophy of Animal rights, in buddhist philosophy and in

In the story of the Indra's Net, the light that streams back and forth throughout the display is the analogy of karma. Karma ( Sanskrit: कर्म, kárman - "act action performance" Pali: kamma) is the concept of "action" (Note that in popular Western usage, the word "karma" often refers to the concept of past good or bad actions resulting in like consequences. ) In the Eastern context "Karma" refers to an action, or, more specifically, to an intentional action, and the Buddhist theory holds that every karma (every intentional action) will bear karmic fruit (produce an effect somewhere down the line). Volitional acts drive the universe. The consequences of this view often confound our ordinary expectations.

A shifting flow of probabilities for futures lies at the heart of theories associated with the Yi Jing (or I Ching, the Book of Changes). The I Ching ( Wade-Giles) or “Yì Jīng” ( Pinyin) also called “Classic of Changes” or “Book of Changes” is one of the oldest of the Probabilities take the center of the stage away from things and people. A kind of "divine" volition sets the fundamental rules for the working out of probabilities in the universe, and human volitions are always a factor in the ways that humans can deal with the real world situations one encounters. If one's situation in life is surfing on a tsunami, one still has some range of choices even in that situation. A tsunami ((tsuːˈnɑːmi is a series of waves created when One person might give up, and another person might choose to struggle and perhaps to survive. The Yi Jing mentality is much closer to the mentality of quantum physics than to that of classical physics, and also finds parallelism in voluntarist or Existentialist ideas of taking one's life as one's project. Existentialism is a philosophical doctrine which posits that individuals create the meaning and essence of their lives and that this essence follows from their existence

The followers of the philosopher Mozi made some early discoveries in optics and other areas of physics, ideas that were consonant with deterministic ideas. Mozi ( Lat as Micius, ca 470 BCE&ndashca 391 BCE was a Philosopher who lived in China during the Hundred Schools of Thought

Determinism in Western tradition

In the West, the Ancient Greek atomists Leucippus and Democritus were the first to anticipate determinism when they theorized that all processes in the world were due to the mechanical interplay of atoms, but this theory did not gain much support at the time. The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca In Natural philosophy, atomism is the theory that all the objects in the universe are composed of very small indestructible building blocks - Atoms Or stated in Leucippus or Leukippos ( Greek, first half of 5th century BC was among the earliest philosophers of Atomism, the idea that everything is composed entirely Democritus ( Greek:) was a pre-Socratic Greek Materialist Philosopher (born at Abdera in Thrace ca Determinism in the West is often associated with Newtonian physics, which depicts the physical matter of the universe as operating according to a set of fixed, knowable laws. Classical mechanics is used for describing the motion of Macroscopic objects from Projectiles to parts of Machinery, as well as Astronomical objects The "billiard ball" hypothesis, a product of Newtonian physics, argues that once the initial conditions of the universe have been established the rest of the history of the universe follows inevitably. If it were actually possible to have complete knowledge of physical matter and all of the laws governing that matter at any one time, then it would be theoretically possible to compute the time and place of every event that will ever occur (Laplace's demon). In the History of science, Laplace's demon is a hypothetical "demon" envisioned in 1814 by Pierre-Simon Laplace such that if it knew the precise location In this sense, the basic particles of the universe operate in the same fashion as the rolling balls on a billiard table, moving and striking each other in predictable ways to produce predictable results.

Whether or not it is all-encompassing in so doing, Newtonian mechanics deals only with caused events, e. g. : If an object begins in a known position and is hit dead on by an object with some known velocity, then it will be pushed straight toward another predictable point. If it goes somewhere else, the Newtonians argue, one must question one's measurements of the original position of the object, the exact direction of the striking object, gravitational or other fields that were inadvertently ignored, etc. Then, they maintain, repeated experiments and improvements in accuracy will always bring one's observations closer to the theoretically predicted results. When dealing with situations on an ordinary human scale, Newtonian physics has been so enormously successful that it has no competition. But it fails spectacularly as velocities become some substantial fraction of the speed of light and when interactions at the atomic scale are studied. Before the discovery of quantum effects and other challenges to Newtonian physics, "uncertainty" was always a term that applied to the accuracy of human knowledge about causes and effects, and not to the causes and effects themselves. Quantum mechanics (QM or quantum theory) is a physical science dealing with the behavior of Matter and Energy on the scale of Atoms

Minds and bodies

Some determinists argue that materialism does not present a complete understanding of the universe, because while it can describe determinate interactions among material things, it ignores the minds or souls of conscious beings. The Philosophy of materialism holds that the only thing that can be truly proven to exist is Matter, and is considered a form of Physicalism. MIND ( Moving In New Directions) (est 1975 is an alternative education high school in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The soul, according to many religious and philosophical beliefs is the self-awareness, or Consciousness, unique to a particular living

A number of positions can be delineated:

1. Immaterial souls exist and exert a non-deterministic causal influence on bodies. (Traditional theistic free-will, interactionist dualism). In Philosophy of mind, dualism is a set of views about the relationship between mind and matter which begins with the claim that mental phenomena are in some ^{[10] [11]}
2. Immaterial souls exist, but are part of deterministic framework.
3. Immaterial souls exist, but exert no causal influence, free or determined (epiphenomenalism, occasionalism)
4. Immaterial souls do not exist — the mind-body problem has some other solution. In Philosophy of mind, epiphenomenalism, also known as ' Type-E Dualism ' is a view according to which some or all mental states are mere Epiphenomena Occasionalism is a philosophical theory about causation which says that created substances cannot be Efficient causes of events Philosophy of mind is the branch of Philosophy that studies the nature of the Mind, Mental events Mental functions mental properties
5. Immaterial souls are all that exist (Idealism). In Western civilization, Idealism is the philosophy which maintains that the Ultimate nature of reality is ideal or based upon ideas values essences The so-called

Modern perspectives on determinism

Determinism and a first cause

Since the early twentieth century when astronomer Edwin Hubble first hypothesized that red shift shows the universe is expanding, prevailing scientific opinion has been that the current state of the universe is the result of a process described by the Big Bang. Edwin Powell Hubble ( November 20, 1889 – September 28, 1953) was an American astronomer. In Physics and Astronomy, redshift occurs when Electromagnetic radiation – usually Visible light – emitted or reflected by The Big Bang is the cosmological model of the Universe that is best supported by all lines of scientific evidence and Observation. Many theists and deists claim that it therefore has a finite age, pointing out that something cannot come from nothing. Theism, in its most inclusive usage is the belief in at least one Deity. Deism is the belief that a supreme God exists and created the physical universe and that religious truths can be arrived at by the application of reason alone without dependence on revelation The big bang does not describe from where the compressed universe came; instead it leaves the question open. Different astrophysicists hold different views about precisely how the universe originated (Cosmogony). This article discusses scientific theories of creation (cosmogony The philosophical argument here would be that the big bang triggered every single action, and possibly mental thought, through the system of cause and effect.

Determinism and generative processes

In emergentist or generative philosophy of cognitive sciences and evolutionary psychology, free will does not exist. For other uses see Emergence (disambiguation, Emergent, and Emergency. Cognitive science may be broadly defined as the multidisciplinary study of mind and behavior Evolutionary psychology ( EP) attempts to explain mental and psychological traits ��such as Memory, Perception, ^[12][13] However an illusion of free will is experienced due to the generation of infinite behaviour from the interaction of finite-deterministic set of rules and parameters. Thus the unpredictability of the emerging behaviour from deterministic processes leads to a perception of free will, even though free will as an ontological entity does not exist. In Philosophy, ontology (from the Greek, genitive: of being (part ^[12][13]

As an illustration, the strategy board-games chess and Go have rigorous rules in which no information (such as cards' face-values) is hidden from either player and no random events (such as dice-rolling) happen within the game. Chess is a recreational and competitive Game played between two players. Randomness is a lack of order Purpose, cause, or predictability Yet, chess and especially Go with its extremely simple deterministic rules, can still have an extremely large number of unpredictable moves. By analogy, emergentists or generativists suggest that the experience of free will emerges from the interaction of finite rules and deterministic parameters that generate infinite and unpredictable behaviour. Yet, if all these events were accounted for, and there were a known way to evaluate these events, the seemingly unpredictable behaviour would become predictable. ^[12][13]

Dynamical-evolutionary psychology, cellular automata and the generative sciences, model emergent processes of social behaviour on this philosophy, showing the experience of free will as essentially a gift of ignorance or as a product of incomplete information. Evolutionary psychology ( EP) attempts to explain mental and psychological traits ��such as Memory, Perception, A cellular automaton (plural cellular automata) is a discrete model studied in computability theory, Mathematics, Theoretical biology The generative sciences (or generative science) are the interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary Sciences that explore the natural World and its complex behaviours ^[12][13]

Determinism in mathematical models

Many mathematical models are deterministic. Note The term model has a different meaning in Model theory, a branch of Mathematical logic. This is true of most models involving differential equations (notably, those measuring rate of change over time). A differential equation is a mathematical Equation for an unknown function of one or several variables that relates the values of the Mathematical models that are not deterministic because they involve randomness are called stochastic. Stochastic (from the Greek "Στόχος" for "aim" or "guess" means Random. Because of sensitive dependence on initial conditions, some deterministic models may appear to behave non-deterministically; in such cases, a deterministic interpretation of the model may not be useful due to numerical instability and a finite amount of precision in measurement. The butterfly effect is a phrase that encapsulates the more technical notion of sensitive dependence on initial conditions in Chaos theory. In the mathematical subfield of Numerical analysis, numerical stability is a desirable property of numerical Algorithms The precise definition of stability Such considerations can motivate the consideration of a stochastic model when the underlying system is accurately modeled in the abstract by deterministic equations. ^[14]

Arguments against determinism

Libertarianism is the belief that we have complete free will. Compatibilism is a mixture of Libertarianism and Determinism.

The negation of determinism is sometimes called indeterminism. Non-determinism redirects here For similar articles see Indeterminacy Indeterminism is the philosophical belief contradictory to

Determinism, quantum mechanics and classical physics

Since the beginning of the 20th century, quantum mechanics has revealed previously concealed aspects of events. Quantum mechanics is the study of mechanical systems whose dimensions are close to the Atomic scale such as Molecules Atoms Electrons A phenomenon (from Greek φαινόμενoν, pl φαινόμενα - phenomena) is any observable occurrence Newtonian physics, taken in isolation rather than as an approximation to quantum mechanics, depicts a universe in which objects move in perfectly determinative ways. Classical mechanics is used for describing the motion of Macroscopic objects from Projectiles to parts of Machinery, as well as Astronomical objects An approximation (represented by the symbol ≈ is an inexact representation of something that is still close enough to be useful At human scale levels of interaction, Newtonian mechanics gives predictions that in many areas check out as completely perfectible, to the accuracy of measurement. Poorly designed and fabricated guns and ammunition scatter their shots rather widely around the center of a target, and better guns produce tighter patterns. Absolute knowledge of the forces accelerating a bullet should produce absolutely reliable predictions of its path, or so was thought. In philosophy universalism is a doctrine or school claiming universal facts can be discovered and is therefore understood as being in opposition to Relativism. However, knowledge is never absolute in practice and the equations of Newtonian mechanics can exhibit sensitive dependence on initial conditions, meaning small errors in knowledge of initial conditions can result in arbitrarily large deviations from predicted behavior. The butterfly effect is a phrase that encapsulates the more technical notion of sensitive dependence on initial conditions in Chaos theory.

At atomic scales the paths of objects can only be predicted in a probabilistic way. The paths may not be exactly specified in a full quantum description of the particles; "path" is a classical concept which quantum particles do not exactly possess. The probability arises from the measurement of the perceived path of the particle. In some cases, a quantum particle may trace an exact path, and the probability of finding the particles in that path is one. The quantum development is at least as predictable as the classical motion, but it describes wave functions that cannot be easily expressed in ordinary language. A wave function or wavefunction is a mathematical tool used in Quantum mechanics to describe any physical system In double-slit experiments, light is fired singly through a double-slit apparatus at a distant screen and does not arrive at a single point, nor do the photons arrive in a scattered pattern analogous to bullets fired by a fixed gun at a distant target. Light, or visible light, is Electromagnetic radiation of a Wavelength that is visible to the Human eye (about 400–700 Instead, the light arrives in varying concentrations at widely separated points, and the distribution of its collisions can be calculated reliably. In that sense the behavior of light in this apparatus is deterministic, but there is no way to predict where in the resulting interference pattern an individual photon will make its contribution (see Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle). In physics interference is the addition ( superposition) of two or more Waves that result in a new wave pattern In Physics, the photon is the Elementary particle responsible for electromagnetic phenomena In Quantum physics, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle states that locating a particle in a small region of space makes the Momentum of the particle uncertain

Some have argued that, in addition to the conditions humans can observe and the laws we can deduce, there are hidden factors or "hidden variables" that determine absolutely in which order photons reach the detector screen. Historically in Physics, hidden variable theories were espoused by a minority of Physicists who argued that the statistical nature of Quantum mechanics They argue that the course of the universe is absolutely determined, but that humans are screened from knowledge of the determinative factors. So, they say, it only appears that things proceed in a merely probabilistically-determinative way. In actuality, they proceed in an absolutely deterministic way. Although matters are still subject to some measure of dispute, quantum mechanics makes statistical predictions which would be violated if some local hidden variables existed. Statistics is a mathematical science pertaining to the collection analysis interpretation or explanation and presentation of Data. There have been a number of experiments to verify those predictions, and so far they do not appear to be violated, though many physicists believe better experiments are needed to conclusively settle the question. (See Bell test experiments. The Bell test experiments serve to investigate the validity of the entanglement effect in Quantum mechanics by using some kind of Bell inequality. ) It is possible, however, to augment quantum mechanics with non-local hidden variables to achieve a deterministic theory that is in agreement with experiment. An example is the Bohm interpretation of quantum mechanics. The Bohm interpretation of Quantum mechanics, sometimes called Bohmian mechanics, the ontological interpretation, or the causal interpretation

On the macro scale it can matter very much whether a bullet arrives at a certain point at a certain time, as snipers are well aware; there are analogous quantum events that have macro- as well as quantum-level consequences. It is easy to contrive situations in which the arrival of an electron at a screen at a certain point and time would trigger one event and its arrival at another point would trigger an entirely different event. (See Schrödinger's cat. Schrödinger's cat is a Thought experiment, often described as a Paradox, devised by Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger in 1935 )

Even before the laws of quantum mechanics were fully developed, the phenomenon of radioactivity posed a challenge to determinism. Radioactive decay is the process in which an unstable Atomic nucleus loses energy by emitting ionizing particles and Radiation. A gram of uranium-238, a commonly occurring radioactive substance, contains some 2. Uranium-238 (U-238 is the most common isotope of Uranium found in nature 5 x 10²¹ atoms. By all tests known to science these atoms are identical and indistinguishable. Yet about 12600 times a second one of the atoms in that gram will decay, giving off an alpha particle. Alpha particles (named after and denoted by the first letter in the Greek alphabet, α consist of two Protons and two Neutrons bound together into a This decay does not depend on external stimulus and no extant theory of physics predicts when any given atom will decay, with realistically obtainable knowledge. The uranium found on earth is thought to have been synthesized during a supernova explosion that occurred roughly 5 billion years ago. A supernova (plural supernovae or supernovas) is a stellar Explosion. For determinism to hold, every uranium atom must contain some internal "clock" that specifies the exact time it will decay. And somehow the laws of physics must specify exactly how those clocks were set as each uranium atom was formed during the supernova collapse.

Exposure to alpha radiation can cause cancer. For this to happen, at some point a specific alpha particle must alter some chemical reaction in a cell in a way that results in a mutation. Since molecules are in constant thermal motion, the exact timing of the radioactive decay that produced the fatal alpha particle matters. If probabilistically determined events do have an impact on the macro events -- such as when a person who could have been historically important dies in youth of a cancer caused by a random mutation -- then the course of history is not determined from the dawn of time.

The time dependent Schrödinger equation gives the first time derivative of the quantum state. In Physics, especially Quantum mechanics, the Schrödinger equation is an equation that describes how the Quantum state of a Physical system In Calculus, a branch of mathematics the derivative is a measurement of how a function changes when the values of its inputs change In Quantum physics, a quantum state is a mathematical object that fully describes a quantum system. That is, it explicitly and uniquely predicts the development of the wave function with time. A wave function or wavefunction is a mathematical tool used in Quantum mechanics to describe any physical system

So quantum mechanics is deterministic, provided that one accepts the wave function itself as reality (rather than as probability of classical coordinates). Since we have no practical way of knowing the exact magnitudes, and especially the phases, in a full quantum mechanical description of the causes of an observable event, this turns out to be philosophically similar to the "hidden variable" doctrine.

According to some, quantum mechanics is more strongly ordered than Classical Mechanics, because while Classical Mechanics is chaotic, quantum mechanics is not. In Mathematics, chaos theory describes the behavior of certain dynamical systems – that is systems whose state evolves with time – that may exhibit dynamics that For example, the classical problem of three bodies under a force such as gravity is not integrable, while the quantum mechanical three body problem is tractable and integrable, using the Faddeev Equations. The n -body problem is the problem of finding given the initial positions masses and velocities of n bodies their subsequent motions as determined by Gravitation is a natural Phenomenon by which objects with Mass attract one another In Mathematics, certain systems of Partial differential equations are usefully formulated from the point of view of their underlying geometric and algebraic structure in terms The Faddeev equations are Equations that describe at once all the possible exchanges/ Interactions in a system of three particles in a fully quantum That is, the quantum mechanical problem can always be solved to a given accuracy with a large enough computer of predetermined precision, while the classical problem may require arbitrarily high precision, depending on the details of the motion. This does not mean that quantum mechanics describes the world as more deterministic, unless one already considers the wave function to be the true reality. Even so, this does not get rid of the probabilities, because we can't do anything without using classical descriptions, but it assigns the probabilities to the classical approximation, rather than to the quantum reality.

Asserting that quantum mechanics is deterministic by treating the wave function itself as reality implies a single wave function for the entire universe, starting at the big bang. Such a "wave function of everything" would carry the probabilities of not just the world we know, but every other possible world that could have evolved from the big bang. For example, large voids in the distributions of galaxies are believed by many cosmologists to have originated in quantum fluctuations during the big bang. A galaxy is a massive gravitationally bound system consisting of Stars an Interstellar medium of gas and dust, and Dark matter (See cosmic inflation and primordial fluctuations. In Physical cosmology, cosmic inflation is the idea that the nascent Universe passed through a phase of exponential expansion that Primordial fluctuations are density variations in the early universe which are considered the seeds of all structure in the universe ) If so, the "wave function of everything" would carry the possibility that the region where our Milky Way galaxy is located could have been a void and the Earth never existed at all. (See large-scale structure of the cosmos. In Physical cosmology, the term large-scale structure refers to the characterization of observable distributions of Matter and Light )

First cause

Intrinsic to the debate concerning determinism is the issue of first cause. The cosmological argument is an Argument for the Existence of God or a " First Cause " Deism, a philosophy articulated in the seventeenth century, holds that the universe has been deterministic since creation, but ascribes the creation to a metaphysical God or first cause outside of the chain of determinism. Deism is the belief that a supreme God exists and created the physical universe and that religious truths can be arrived at by the application of reason alone without dependence on revelation God may have begun the process, Deism argues, but God has not influenced its evolution. Deism is the belief that a supreme God exists and created the physical universe and that religious truths can be arrived at by the application of reason alone without dependence on revelation This perspective illustrates a puzzle underlying any conception of determinism:

Assume: All events have causes, and their causes are all prior events. There is no cycle of events such that an event (possibly indirectly) causes itself.

The picture this gives us is that Event A_N is preceded by A_N-1, which is preceded by A_N-2, and so forth.

Under these assumptions, two possibilities seem clear, and both of them question the validity of the original assumptions:

(1) There is an event A₀ prior to which there was no other event that could serve as its cause.

(2) There is no event A₀ prior to which there was no other event, which means that we are presented with an infinite series of causally related events, which is itself an event, and yet there is no cause for this infinite series of events.

Under this analysis the original assumption must have something wrong with it. It can be fixed by admitting one exception, a creation event (either the creation of the original event or events, or the creation of the infinite series of events) that is itself not a caused event in the sense of the word "caused" used in the formulation of the original assumption. Some agency, which many systems of thought call God, creates space, time, and the entities found in the universe by means of some process that is analogous to causation but is not causation as we know it. This solution to the original difficulty has led people to question whether there is any reason for there only being one divine quasi-causal act, whether there have not been a number of events that have occurred outside the ordinary sequence of events, events that may be called miracles. Another possibility is that the "last event" loops back to the "first event" causing an infinite loop. If you were to call the Big Bang the first event, you would see the end of the Universe as the "last event". In theory, the end of the Universe would be the cause of the beginning of the Universe. You would be left with an infinite loop of time with no real beginning or end. This theory eliminates the need for a first cause, but does not explain why there should be a loop in time.

Immanuel Kant carried forth this idea of Leibniz in his idea of transcendental relations, and as a result, this had profound effects on later philosophical attempts to sort these issues out. His most influential immediate successor, a strong critic whose ideas were yet strongly influenced by Kant, was Edmund Husserl, the developer of the school of philosophy called phenomenology. Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl (ˈhʊsɛrl April 8 1859 – April 26 1938) was a philosopher, known as the father of But the central concern of that school was to elucidate not physics but the grounding of information that physicists and others regard as empirical. In Philosophy, empiricism is a theory of Knowledge which asserts that knowledge arises from Experience. In an indirect way, this train of investigation appears to have contributed much to the philosophy of science called logical positivism and particularly to the thought of members of the Vienna Circle, all of which have had much to say, at least indirectly, about ideas of determinism. Logical positivism (later and more accurately called logical empiricism) is a school of philosophy that combines Empiricism, the idea that observational evidence is The Vienna Circle (in German: der Wiener Kreis) was a group of philosophers who gathered around Moritz Schlick when he

See also

Amor fati Block time Biological determinism Calvinism Chaos theory Environmental determinism Fatalism

Fractal Game theory Genetic determinism Ilya Prigogine Interpretation of quantum mechanics Open Theism Philosophical interpretation of classical physics

Predestination Radical behaviorism Social determinism Theological determinism Technological Determinism Voluntarism

Notes

References and bibliography

External links

• Can you show me the way to the human soul? Thanks!
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Causal Determinism
• Determinism in History from the Dictionary of the History of Ideas
• Philosopher Ted Honderich's Determinism web resource
• An Introduction to Free Will and Determinism by Paul Newall, aimed at beginners.
• The Society of Natural Science
• Determinism and Free Will in Judaism
• Snooker, Pool, and Determinism

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