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Fatalism is commonly referred to as "the doctrine that all events are subject to fate or inevitable predetermination." More precisely, it can refer to at least one of three interrelated ideas:- #That there is no . #That although human actions are free, they are nonetheless ineffectual in determining events, because "whatever will be will be". Catholic Encyclopedia This version of fatalism is very similar to Predestination . #That an attitude of inaction and passive acceptance, rather than striving, is appropriate. This version of fatalism is very similar to Defeatism . DETERMINISM, FATALISM AND PREDESTINATION The level of equivalence between determinism, fatalism and predestination is open to dispute. Determinism and predestination differ on the status of free will. Some fatalists deny that fatalism as a fact implies defeatism as an attitude, or put a positive interpretation on the acceptance of one's fate ( Amor Fati ). Determinism should not be mistaken for fatalism. Society for Natural Science Alan White of the University of Manitoba Although determinists accept that the future is, in some sense, set, they accept that human actions affect what happens - even though those human actions are themselves determined; if they had been different, the future would also be different. In other words, determinists think the future is fixed ''because'' of Causality , whereas (predestinarian) fatalists think it is fixed ''in spite'' of causality. Determinists think that if the past had been different, the present would have been different (although for them the idea that anything could have been different is purely hypothetical and not a real Possibility ). Fatalists think that even if you could change the present or the past, the future would still be the same. Human actions are for determinists merely a special case of the dependence of the future on the present and past, and have no special properties beyond that. THE IDLE ARGUMENT One ancient argument for fatalism, called the ''idle argument'', The Idle Argument at the S.E.P went like this:
Arguments like the above are usually rejected even by Causal Determinists , who may say that it may be determined that only a doctor can cure you. There are other examples that show clearly that human deliberation makes a big difference - a Chess player who deliberates should usually be able to defeat one of equal strength who is only allowed one second per move. THE LOGICAL ARGUMENT Arguments for fatalism, although rarely accepted, do have a bearing on discussions about the nature of for sentences about the future, though this is controversial. NOTES SEE ALSO
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