hard determinism

English

Noun

hard determinism (uncountable)

1. (philosophy) A view on free will which holds that determinism is true, that it is incompatible with free will, and therefore that free will does not exist.

   Synonyms: incompatibilism, metaphysical determinism, strict determinism

   Antonyms: compatibilism, soft determinism

   • 2009, Susan Pockett, William P. Banks, Shaun Gallagher, editors, Does Consciousness Cause Behavior?, MIT Press, →ISBN, page 128:

     Moreover, suggestions that compatibilists can refute hard determinism on non-semantic grounds are misguided, building more into hard determinism than an adherent of this view needs to accept. […] Hard determinism merely claims that our actions are brought about by genetics and environment, and that this rules out control.

Related terms

• hard determinist

Further reading

• hard determinism on Wikipedia.Wikipedia