Determinism and indeterminism are opposing points of view on the cause and interaction of all laws and processes taking place in the world. Determinism is the science of the relationship between phenomena, that is, that one phenomenon under the given circumstances and conditions produces another. We can say that this is a science of the general causation of all processes. This philosophical doctrine shows us the presence of various forms of interaction of phenomena that do not directly have segments of the generation of one another. It includes correlations, spatial and temporal, the state of symmetry, functional dependencies. All types of interactions are based on causality, without which there is not a single phenomenon.
Previously, the disadvantage of this science was that it dispensed with one real causality. There was no nature of chance in it; statistical relations opposed the material determination of phenomena. Philosophical doctrine could not be involved in individual branches of the science of nature, namely in social life. Only thanks to historical materialism did the realization of the ideas of determinism become possible.
Social determinism recognizes the regular nature of social life. This does not mean that the course of history is indicated in advance. Pursuing the main line of historical development, social laws do not show the diversity of activities of each individual. In public life, various opportunities are emerging, which depend largely on the activities of people. Social determinism does not deny freedom and provides for the ability of a person to purposeful and conscious choice of activity. None of the interpretations of this science excludes the significance of the purposeful activity of the individual, that is, social laws are the laws of life. The goals that each person and society as a whole set are very important. Different types of social determination do not mean recognition or denial of a person’s responsibility for the final result of social activity.
Economic determinism historically leads to a number of positions, each of which is determined by the economic part of society, by the totality of production relations. The transition to the next, higher position is due to the fact that productive forces are constantly growing and it becomes closely within the narrow framework of previous production relations. In fact, economic determinism is the material basis of society. This concept, as part of philosophy, is relevant at all times.
Determinism and indeterminism are distinguished by the fact that the second is a philosophical doctrine that rejects the cognitive value of causal interpretation in science, thus it dictates the will as a separate force, convinces that the laws of causality were not applied to the understanding of human choice and behavior and denounces the proponents of determinism in fatalism .
Starting from ancient Greek philosophy to the present, determinism and indeterminism are positioned as opposing teachings on the problems of conditioning the will of a person, his decisions, on the issue of responsibility for the deed. There are various forms of indeterminism, but they tend to either deny the principle of causality, or are opposed to the objective nature of the relationship of determination. They see a subjective line in the causality of nature, necessity, law: constancy and conditioning are inherent only in the perception of the world, but not in the world as a whole.
The concepts of determinism and indeterminism refer to absolute categories, such as causality. In the general case, absolute categories are not definable through comparative ones, and vice versa. That's why they are not universal: their scope is always something limited.