Predeterminism

Predeterminism is the philosophy that all events of history, past, present and future, have been already decided or are already known (by God, fate, or some other force), including human actions.

Predeterminism is closely related to determinism.^[1] The concept of predeterminism is often argued by invoking causal determinism, implying that there is an unbroken chain of prior occurrences stretching back to infinity. In the case of predeterminism, this chain of events has been pre-established, and human actions cannot interfere with the outcomes of this pre-established chain. Predeterminism can be used to mean such pre-established causal determinism, in which case it is categorised as a specific type of determinism.^[2]^[3] It can also be used interchangeably with causal determinism—in the context of its capacity to determine future events.^[2]^[4] Despite this, predeterminism is often considered as independent of causal determinism.^[5]^[6] The term predeterminism is also frequently used in the context of biology and heredity, in which case it represents a form of biological determinism.^[7]

^ William F. O'Neill (1981). Educational ideologies: contemporary expressions of educational philosophy. Goodyear Pub. Co. pp. 105, 393. ISBN 978-0-8302-2305-3. Retrieved 20 December 2012. All such determinism implies predeterminism in the sense that anyone who is hypothetically possessed of perfect knowledge of the world as it exists at the present (in all of its complexity) would be able to predict the future without error and to reconstruct the past by logical implication on the basis of existing information.
^ ^a ^b McKewan, Jaclyn (2009). "Predeterminism". In H. James Birx" (ed.). Encyclopedia of Time: Science, Philosophy, Theology, & Culture. SAGE Publications, Inc. pp. 1035–1036. doi:10.4135/9781412963961.n191.
^ "Some Varieties of Free Will and Determinism". Philosophy 302: Ethics. philosophy.lander.edu. 10 September 2009. Retrieved 19 December 2012. Predeterminism: the philosophical and theological view that combines God with determinism. On this doctrine events throughout eternity have been foreordained by some supernatural power in a causal sequence.
^ See for example Hooft, G. (2001). "How does god play dice? (Pre-)determinism at the Planck scale". arXiv:hep-th/0104219. Bibcode:2001hep.th....4219T. Predeterminism is here defined by the assumption that the experimenter's 'free will' in deciding what to measure (such as his choice to measure the x- or the y-component of an electron's spin), is in fact limited by deterministic laws, hence not free at all {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help), and Sukumar, CV (1996). "A new paradigm for science and architecture". City. 1 (1–2). Taylor & Francis: 181–183. doi:10.1080/13604819608900044. Quantum Theory provided a beautiful description of the behaviour of isolated atoms and nuclei and small aggregates of elementary particles. Modern science recognized that predisposition rather than predeterminism is what is widely prevalent in nature.
^ Borst, C. (1992). "Leibniz and the compatibilist account of free will". Studia Leibnitiana. JSTOR: 49–58. Leibniz presents a clear case of a philosopher who does not think that predeterminism requires universal causal determinism
^ Far Western Philosophy of Education Society (1971). Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Far Western Philosophy of Education Society. Far Western Philosophy of Education Society. p. 12. Retrieved 20 December 2012. "Determinism" is, in essence, the position which holds that all behavior is caused by prior behavior. "Predeterminism" is the position which holds that all behavior is caused by conditions which predate behavior altogether (such impersonal boundaries as "the human conditions," instincts, the will of God, inherent knowledge, fate, and such).
^ "Predeterminism". Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. Retrieved 20 December 2012. See for example Ormond, A.T. (1894). "Freedom and psycho-genesis". Psychological Review. 1 (3). Macmillan & Company: 217–229. doi:10.1037/h0065249. The problem of predeterminism is one that involves the factors of heredity and environment, and the point to be debated here is the relation of the present self that chooses to these predetermining agencies, and Garris, M.D.; et al. (1992). "A Platform for Evolving Genetic Automata for Text Segmentation (GNATS)". Science of Artificial Neural Networks. 1710. Citeseer: 714–724. Bibcode:1992SPIE.1710..714G. doi:10.1117/12.140132. S2CID 62639035. However, predeterminism is not completely avoided. If the codes within the genotype are not designed properly, then the organisms being evolved will be fundamentally handicapped.

[ONeill1981-1] William F. O'Neill (1981). Educational ideologies: contemporary expressions of educational philosophy. Goodyear Pub. Co. pp. 105, 393. ISBN 978-0-8302-2305-3. Retrieved 20 December 2012. All such determinism implies predeterminism in the sense that anyone who is hypothetically possessed of perfect knowledge of the world as it exists at the present (in all of its complexity) would be able to predict the future without error and to reconstruct the past by logical implication on the basis of existing information.

[McKewan-2] McKewan, Jaclyn (2009). "Predeterminism". In H. James Birx" (ed.). Encyclopedia of Time: Science, Philosophy, Theology, & Culture. SAGE Publications, Inc. pp. 1035–1036. doi:10.4135/9781412963961.n191.

[3] "Some Varieties of Free Will and Determinism". Philosophy 302: Ethics. philosophy.lander.edu. 10 September 2009. Retrieved 19 December 2012. Predeterminism: the philosophical and theological view that combines God with determinism. On this doctrine events throughout eternity have been foreordained by some supernatural power in a causal sequence.

[4] See for example Hooft, G. (2001). "How does god play dice? (Pre-)determinism at the Planck scale". arXiv:hep-th/0104219. Bibcode:2001hep.th....4219T. Predeterminism is here defined by the assumption that the experimenter's 'free will' in deciding what to measure (such as his choice to measure the x- or the y-component of an electron's spin), is in fact limited by deterministic laws, hence not free at all {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help), and Sukumar, CV (1996). "A new paradigm for science and architecture". City. 1 (1–2). Taylor & Francis: 181–183. doi:10.1080/13604819608900044. Quantum Theory provided a beautiful description of the behaviour of isolated atoms and nuclei and small aggregates of elementary particles. Modern science recognized that predisposition rather than predeterminism is what is widely prevalent in nature.

[5] Borst, C. (1992). "Leibniz and the compatibilist account of free will". Studia Leibnitiana. JSTOR: 49–58. Leibniz presents a clear case of a philosopher who does not think that predeterminism requires universal causal determinism

[Society1971-6] Far Western Philosophy of Education Society (1971). Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Far Western Philosophy of Education Society. Far Western Philosophy of Education Society. p. 12. Retrieved 20 December 2012. "Determinism" is, in essence, the position which holds that all behavior is caused by prior behavior. "Predeterminism" is the position which holds that all behavior is caused by conditions which predate behavior altogether (such impersonal boundaries as "the human conditions," instincts, the will of God, inherent knowledge, fate, and such).

[7] "Predeterminism". Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. Retrieved 20 December 2012. See for example Ormond, A.T. (1894). "Freedom and psycho-genesis". Psychological Review. 1 (3). Macmillan & Company: 217–229. doi:10.1037/h0065249. The problem of predeterminism is one that involves the factors of heredity and environment, and the point to be debated here is the relation of the present self that chooses to these predetermining agencies, and Garris, M.D.; et al. (1992). "A Platform for Evolving Genetic Automata for Text Segmentation (GNATS)". Science of Artificial Neural Networks. 1710. Citeseer: 714–724. Bibcode:1992SPIE.1710..714G. doi:10.1117/12.140132. S2CID 62639035. However, predeterminism is not completely avoided. If the codes within the genotype are not designed properly, then the organisms being evolved will be fundamentally handicapped.

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