impossibilism

English

Etymology

From impossible +‎ -ism.

Noun

impossibilism (uncountable)

1. A belief in unrealizable or impractical policies.
2. (politics, Marxism) A socialist doctrine that stresses the limited value of political, economic, and social reforms within a capitalist economy, arguing that the pursuit of such reforms strengthens support for the existing system.
3. (philosophy) The view that free will does not exist and is simply impossible.
   • 2013, Kadri Vihvelin, Causes, Laws, and Free Will: Why Determinism Doesn't Matter, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 35:

     In the next section I examine five fatalist arguments for impossibilism and show that they all fail, and some for reasons more subtle than is usually thought.

Related terms

• impossibilist