Determinism

Determinism

Broadly speaking, determinism is the idea that all our actions are determined by forces which are beyond our authority. Causal determinism implies that the future is determined by the present and the past occurrences pooled with n the laws of nature. Logical determinism is the belief that every proposition regardless of whether it is about the future present or past is either force or true. Theological determinism on the other hand is the belief that God exists and that he determines all that is done by human beings either through having advance knowledge of their actions or through his nature as an omniscient God or by having decreed human actions in advance. On the other hand, biological determinism is the notion that our behaviors, beliefs and desires are genetically determined (McKenna, 2007).

Soft determinism is also known as compatibilism. This is the idea that the hypothesis of free will and existence of a conception of determinism are compatible with one another. An individual acts on his own only when he wants to do the act even though he could have done otherwise if he wanted to. Each person is free to do as he wishes. Nothing can stop man from doing what he has the will and desire to do or he has an inclination to do. According to soft determinism, a person’s actions and choices result from his own desire and are not determined by external forces. On the other hand, hard determinism is also called incompatibilism since it assumes that there is no compatibility between free will and determinism. Some of the proponents of hard determinism reject free will and accept determinism while others accept free will but deny determinism while accepting the view that some forms of determinism are true ( Nahmias, 2006).

Libertarianism is the belief that each person is in control of his own life, property provided he does not cause harm to the person and belongings of others. Therefore, the individual should have freedom in doing as he wishes with his life and property but also respect the property of others (McKenna, 2007).

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