Accidentalism
Accidentalism
The theory that some events are undetermined, or that the incidence of series of determined events is unpredictable (Aristotle, Cournot). In Epicureanism (q.v.) such indeterminism was applied to mental events and specifically to acts of will. The doctrine then assumes the special formSome acts of will are unmotivated. See Indeterminism. A striking example of a more general accidentalism is Charles Peirce’s Tychism (q.v.). See Chance, Contingency. — C.A.B.