Quotes About Determinism

Which brings me to my conclusion upon Free Will and Predestination, namely - let the reader mark it - that they are identical.

Simple determinism, whether of the genetic or environmental kind, is a depressing prospect for those with a fondness for free will.

All theory is against freedom of the will all experience for it.

Can't you see there's a determinism about the fate of nations? They all seem to get what they deserve in the long run.

All this twaddle, the existence of God, atheism, determinism, liberation, societies, death, etc., are pieces of a chess game called language, and they are amusing only if one does not preoccupy oneself with 'winning or losing this game of chess.

Life is like a game of cards... the hand that is dealt you represents determinism, the way you play it is free will...

that sense of relief which one has in reading Kant when, after the most rigorous demonstration of determinism, one finds that above the world of necessity there is the world of freedom.

This covert or overt biological determinism, paraphrased in Freud's statement that anatomy is destiny, perhaps the most deep rooted obstacle to the analysis of the causes of women oppression and exploitation

The interaction of genetic and external influences makes my behaviour unpredictable, but not undetermined. In the gap between those words lies freedom.

Indeterminism does not confer freedom on us: I would feel that my freedom was impaired if I thought that a quantum mechanical trigger in my brain might cause me to leap into the garden and eat a slug

Hegel was the first to state correctly the relation between freedom and necessity. To him, freedom is the insight into necessity.

You say: I am not free. But I have raised and lowered my arm. Everyone understands that this illogical answer is an irrefutable proof of freedom.

All theory is against the freedom of the will; all experience for it

I am convinced that He (God) does not play dice.

aphorism 90: I am incorrigible. I would have every object of the universe mechanically predictable but myself.

Simple determinism, whether of the genetic or environmental kind, is a depressing prospect for those with a fondness for free will.

The assumption of an absolute determinism is the essential foundation of every scientific enquiry.

When we think about the present, we veer wildly between the belief in chance and the evidence in favour of determinism. When we think about the past, however, it seems obvious that everything happened in the way that it was intended.

Considérant les événement présent de notre vie, nous oscillons sans cesse entre la croyance au hasard et l'évidence du déterminisme.

Al considerar el pasado siempre se tiene la impresión — probablemente falsa — de un cierto determinismo.

La conciencia de un determinismo integral era sin duda lo que más claramente nos diferenciaba de nuestros antepasados humanos. Como ellos, no éramos sino máquinas pensantes; pero a diferencia de ellos, teníamos conciencia de ser tan sólo máquinas.

Al considerar los acontecimientos presentes de nuestra vida, oscilamos constantemente entre la fe en el azar y la evidencia del determinismo. Sin embargo, cuando se trata del pasado, no tenemos la menor duda: nos parece obvio que todo ha ocurrido del modo en que, efectivamente, tenía que ocurrir

Of the many causes that shaped St. Francis's actions, a primary one was the belief that his actions mattered, and that he had a responsibility to change the world around him. This belief, in itself, is a "cause." The idea of free will is a self-fulfilling prophecy; those who abide by it are liberated from the absolute determinism of external forces. Chance

Materialists thereby deny the reality of mind (while they use their minds to advance materialism), determinists deny the reality of human choice (while they choose determinism), and relativists deny the fact of right and wrong (while they judge you if you disagree).