Determinism, Laws, and Predictability in Principle
- 1 December 1972
- journal article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Philosophy of Science
- Vol. 39 (4) , 431-450
- https://doi.org/10.1086/288466
Abstract
This paper examines commonly offered arguments to show that human behavior is not deterministic because it is not predictable. These arguments turn out to rest on the assumption that deterministic systems must be governed by deterministic laws, and that these give rise to predictability “in principle” of determined events. A positive account of determinism is advanced and it is shown that neither of these assumptions is true. The relation between determinism, laws, and prediction in practice is discussed as a question in scientific epistemology.Keywords
This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit:
- Scriven on human unpredictabilityPhilosophical Studies, 1966