From Necessity to Fate: a Fallacy

Abstract

Though clearly fallacious, the inference from determinism to fatalism (the ``Lazy Argument'') has appealed to such minds as Aristotle and his disciple, Alexander of Aphrodisias. It is argued here (1) that determinism does entail a rather similar position, dubbed ``futilism''; and (2) that distinctively Aristotelian determinism entails fatalism for any event to which it applies. The concept of ``fate'' is examined along the way.