Hard determinism (or metaphysical determinism) is a view on free will which holds that nomological determinism is true, and that it is incompatible with free will, and, therefore, that free will does not exist. It is contrasted with soft determinism, which is a compatibilist form of determinism, holding that free will may exist even despite determinism. It is also contrasted with metaphysical libertarianism, the other major form of incompatibilism which holds that free will exists and determinism is false.
Read more about Hard Determinism: Overview, Implications For Ethics, Psychological Effects of Belief in Hard Determinism
Famous quotes containing the words hard and/or determinism:
“It is what we imagine knowledge to be:
dark, salt, clear, moving, utterly free,
drawn from the cold hard mouth
of the world, derived from the rocky breasts
forever, flowing and drawn, and since
our knowledge is historical, flowing, and flown.”
—Elizabeth Bishop (1911–1979)
“Man is a masterpiece of creation if for no other reason than that, all the weight of evidence for determinism notwithstanding, he believes he has free will.”
—G.C. (Georg Christoph)