- predestination is the divine foreordaining of all that will happen, especially with regard to the salvation of some and not others
- fatalism is the belief that all events are predetermined and therefore inevitable
- predeterminism is the belief that all events, including human actions, are established or decided in advance
- determinism is the doctrine that all events, including human action, are ultimately determined by causes external to the will
- indeterminism is the idea that events (or certain events, or events of certain types) are not caused, or not caused deterministically
- naturalism is the idea or belief that only natural laws and forces operate in the universe
- free will is the ability to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded
- molinism - https://www3.nd.edu/~afreddos/papers/molinism.htm
- libertarianism
- argues that free will is logically incompatible with a deterministic universe
- states that since agents have free will, determinism must be false
- Fully deterministic. If you theoretically knew all the exact preconditions and velocities, you could calculate where a ball going into a pachinko machine ends up.
- Indeterminate (#1). The pachinko ball knows where it is going to go, but you never will because of hidden information, such as an inability to know the parameters of the wave function.
- Indeterminate (#2). Truly random things are happening which could never be known.
- Non-deterministic. Assertion that “material” conditions could never fully explain what happens because God, souls, self, etc. (Magical immaterial stuff) is also acting in the universe. Free will is a dependent upon magical stuff
Determinism (also known as “Causal Determinism”) is a metaphysical paradigm that posits that all activity in the universe is both (i) the effect of [all] antecedent activity, and (ii) the only activity that can occur given the antecedent activity. That is what is meant by saying that everything is “determined” — it is the inexorable consequence of activity that preceded it. In a deterministic universe, everything that has ever occurred, is occurring, and will occur since the universe came into existence (however that might have occurred) can only occur exactly as it has occurred, is occurring, or will occur, and cannot possibly occur in any different manner.
Free Will is a philosophical and theological concept that posits that a human being, when presented with more than one course of action, has the freedom or agency to choose between or among the alternatives, and that the state of affairs that exists in the universe immediately prior to the putative exercise of that freedom of choice does not eliminate all but one option and compel the selection of only one of the available options.
Incompatibilism is a position that Determinism and Free Will are mutually exclusive and irreconcilable. Pursuant to Incompatibilism, (1) if Causal Determinism is true (i.e., accurately describes the state of the universe), then humans lack Free Will in its pure form, because both (a) human beings lack the ability to think in a manner that is not 100% caused by prior activity that is outside of their control, as human cognition is simply a form of activity that is governed by Causal Determinism, and (b) there are no such thing as true “options” or “alternatives” because there is one, and only one, activity that can ever occur at any given instant; and (2) If human beings have Free-Will in its pure form, then Causal Determinism is not true, because both (a) a person with Free Will in its pure form is capable of thinking in a manner that is not 100% caused by prior activity that is outside such person’s control, and (b) the existence of Free Will depends upon the existence of true “options” or “alternatives” that do not exist if Causal Determinism is true. Notably, Incompatibilism simply stakes out a position respecting the relationship between Causal Determinism and Free Will, and does not take a position as to whether Causal Determinism is true or Free Will exists — or neither. Rather, Incompatibilism simply posits that the two concepts cannot coexist (to the extent that either exists).
Compatibilism is a position that seeks to harmonize Determinism and Free Will and posits that the can coexist— typically (i) by watering down the pure form of Free Will to include the illusion of choice that exists prior to the inexorable occurrence of determined activity that is not and cannot be known until after it occurs, or (ii) by watering down Causal Determinism to exclude human cognition from the inexorable path of causation forged through the universe long before human beings came into existence — or by watering down both concepts. Like Incompatibilism, Compatibilism simply stakes out a position respecting the relationship between Causal Determinism and Free Will, and does not take a position as to whether Causal Determinism is true or Free Will exists — or neither. Rather, Compatibilism simply posits that the two concepts can coexist (to the extent that either or both exist).
Hard Determinism is a metaphysical paradigm that accepts Incompatibilism and also posits that Causal Determinism is true (which logically necessitates a belief that Free Will does not exist).
Libertarianism is a metaphysical paradigm that accepts Incompatibilism and also posits that Free Will exists in its pure form (which logically necessitates a belief that Causal Determinism is false). Notably, Libertarianism does not posit that all activity occurs without a cause. For example, Libertarianism recognizes that a golf ball travels from a golf tee to a place on the fairway more than 100 feet away as a result of being struck by a golf club. But, Libertarianism does posit that the golfer possessed the Free Will to determine where, when and how to strike the golf ball.
Soft Determinism is a metaphysical paradigm that accepts Compatibilism and also posits both that Causal Determinism is true and that Free Will exists.
Indeterminism is a paradigm that posits that not all events are wholly determined by antecedent causes. As such, Indeterminism rejects the notion that the universe is truly and entirely governed by Determinism. While it is not a technical component of Indeterminism, people who ascribe to Indeterminism also tend to believe that (i) many, but not all, things are governed by the laws of cause and effect (i.e., Newtonian Determinism — as contrasted with Metaphysical Determinism), (ii) Free Will Does not exist, and (iii) that which is not governed by the laws of cause and effect is entirely “Random” (i.e., a quantum mechanics concept). Because such people tend to reject both Determinism and Free Will, they tend to take no position on Compatibilism or Incompatibilism — viewing the issue to be a waste of time because it compares and contrasts what they view to be two false constructs.
Other isms. Although there are not names for the positions, it also is possible to believe that (i) Causal Determinism and Free Will are conceptually incompatible, but that neither actually is true or exists, (ii) Causal Determinism and Free Will are conceptually compatible, but that only Causal Determinism is true and Free Will does not exist (for reasons other than the truth of Causal Determinism), or (iii) Causal Determinism and Free Will are conceptually compatible, but that only Free Will exists and Causal Determinism is false (for reasons other than the existence of Free Will). Perhaps, the first position can be called “Compatibilistic Nihilism,” the second position can be called “Compatibilistic Determinism,” and the third position can be called “Compatibilistic Free Will.”
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Personally, I believe that Compatibilism is a flawed belief. I also tend (or am caused) to lean toward Hard Determinism — although I readily acknowledge that Causal Determinism cannot be proved to be true or falsified, and that a belief in Causal Determinism must rest on faith (much like a belief in God).
For a more detailed discussion of the issues discussed above, please read (i) my discussion of Causal Determinism at Is it true that everything that happens is predetermined?; (ii) my analysis of why it is beyond human capacity to prove or falsify Causal Determinism, at Does quantum mechanics undermine hard determinism?; (iii) my analysis of why Incompatibilism is correct and Compatibilism is wrong, at Is compatibilism a workable idea, and if not, is determinism preferable to libertarianism? and/or Determinism: What are the best arguments for compatibilism?; and (iv) my analysis of the logical error of Libertarians who claim that proof that Causal Determinism is false (if such proof were to exist) would establish the existence of Free Will, at Since “God plays dice” in the quantum sense and the Universe is not deterministic, does this mean we have free will? Also, for a more detailed and scholarly discussion of Causal Determinism, check out the entry on Causal Determinism in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy