Determinism definition, types and examples

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David Holt
Determinism definition, types and examples

The determinism It is a philosophical and scientific doctrine that defends that all events and phenomena, including moral thoughts, actions and decisions, are determined by prior causes. The theory holds that the universe is totally rational, since knowledge of a given situation would reveal its future.

The followers of determinism affirm that everything can be explained and that everything happens by the existence of a cause-consequence chain. One of the implications of this theory is that the individual would have little or no choice over his life, since previous events have completely conditioned it..

Determinism proposes that everything that happens has a cause and that people's lives are determined, without there being freedom

The deterministic current has many variants, each with its own characteristics. Since Ancient Greece there were authors, such as Heraclitus or the Stoics, who claimed that reality was nothing more than the direct consequence of a cause. Later, biological determinism served as the basis for theories of racial or gender superiority.

There are various formulations, degrees, and types of determinism. According to its degree, it can be divided between weak and strong determinism, while the types cover almost all natural and social phenomena, such as economics, biology, education or social classes. On the other hand, all religions have a high degree of determinism in their postulates.

Article index

  • 1 Types of determinism
    • 1.1 Types of determinism according to the formulation
    • 1.2 Type of determinism according to degree
    • 1.3 Economic determinism
    • 1.4 Technological determinism
    • 1.5 Geographic determinism
    • 1.6 Determinism by social character
    • 1.7 Class determinism
    • 1.8 Biological determinism
    • 1.9 Environmental or educational determinism
    • 1.10 Linguistic determinism
    • 1.11 Religious determinism
    • 1.12 Psychological determinism
  • 2 Examples of determinism
    • 2.1 Genetic code
    • 2.2 Obesity according to income
    • 2.3 The delinquent man
  • 3 References

Types of determinism

Gottfried Leibniz, representative of philosophical determinism

Types of determinism according to the formulation

The various formulations of determinism differ in their statements. According to this criterion, there are three types of determinism:

  • Logical determinism: affirms that the truth value of any proposition is timeless.
  • Epistemic determinism: maintains that in the case of knowing any future event in advance, it must inevitably occur.
  • Causal determinism: holds that all events are the result of previous conditions and the laws of nature.

Determinism type according to degree

Determinism can appear in two different degrees:

  • Strong determinism: denies that there are random or random events. Its postulates affirm that the future can be predicted starting from the present.
  • Weak determinism: maintains that present events are determined by probability or that there is a very strong correlation between the present and future states. Unlike strong determinism, it does admit that unpredictable events can appear.

Economic determinism

This type of determinism affirms that the development of societies and their evolution are determined by economic factors.

One of the greatest exponents was Karl Marx, whose approaches, however, should not be confused with those of strict economic determinism, since the latter speaks of determining completely as opposed to conditioning pointed out by the German thinker.

Technological determinism

Its defenders point out that it is technical forces that condition and determine cultural and social changes. The technology and available resources considerably condition any social development. Among the supporters of this trend, the Toronto School stood out, which fixed its studies on the media..

Geographic determinism

This type of determinism, very popular in the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, affirms that the physical environment conditions both individuals and societies as a whole. Its defenders point out that it was even decisive to understand the level of economic and cultural development.

A variant of this idea points out that climate determinism is more important, which conditions the behaviors of those who live in an area and their own history. Thus, with worse climatic conditions, there would be a lower level of development..

Determinism by social character

In this case, this determinism is based on the belief that it is society that determines the individual through the laws and rules that are approved. The purpose of these regulations is to balance general interests with private ones..

Class determinism

The social class in which they are born is decisive for the future of each individual. This determinism denies or minimizes the possibility of moving up the social ladder. An example is the existing statistics that relate the success in the studies with the economic level of the family.

Biological determinism

The theories that defend biological determinism defend that the behavior and development of living beings are determined by their genetic structure.

In its strongest version, the supporters of this type of determinism claim that the individual does not have any freedom, since everything is conditioned by genetics. These ideas have been used by those who defend racial or gender superiority..

Environmental or educational determinism

Contrary to the previous ones, the supporters of this type of determinism point out that the main vital conditioning is presented by the education received.

Linguistic determinism

For the defenders of the existence of this determinism, the language that is spoken and the concepts present in it condition the way of reasoning, the conceptions and the ideas that are had about the world.

Religious determinism

Most religions present a high content of determinism in their postulates. In general, believers think that their god is responsible and the cause of human actions.

Confessions such as Calvinism, in its most extreme aspect, are defenders of this predestination of the human being, although other religious currents defend free will.

Some Asian religions are also highly deterministic. In them, Karma determines the fate of each individual without them being able to change it.

Psychological determinism

Closely related to Freud's work, psychological determinism maintains that each person's attitude and way of being are conditioned by the unconscious formed by childhood experiences.

Examples of determinism

The genetic code largely determines people's lives

Genetic code

Among the most frequently cited examples of determinism is how the genetic code defines our organism. It is the genes that are going to mark a large part of the physical and some psychological characteristics of each person.

Obesity according to income

The various studies carried out on obesity have made clear its relationship with family income. In Spain, for example, 22.37% of those who suffer from it belong to the most disadvantaged classes, while it only affects 9.29% of those with higher incomes. These data can be extrapolated to most countries.

The delinquent man

Cesare Lombroso

Another classic example of determinism, in this case biological, was the work of Cesare Lombroso, one of the fathers of criminology..

This Italian author carried out a series of studies in which he argued the existence of what he called a “born criminal”. Lombroso claimed that some individuals were less developed and possessed an innate tendency to commit crimes.

In addition, the researcher linked this tendency to certain physical characteristics, such as the pentagonal shape of the skull, larger faces, being overweight or a sunken forehead..

References

  1. Euston. Determinism. Retrieved from euston96.com
  2. Herder Editorial. Determinism. Retrieved from encyclopaedia.herdereditorial.com
  3. Philosophy Classroom. Freedom and determinism. Recovered from sites.google.com
  4. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. Determinism. Retrieved from britannica.com
  5. Hoefer, Carl. Causal Determinism. Retrieved from plato.stanford.edu
  6. McLeod, Saul. Freewill vs Determinism. Retrieved from simplypsychology.org
  7. The Information Philosopher. Determinism. Retrieved from informationphilosopher.com

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