Mechanist (Noun)
Meaning
A philosopher who subscribes to the doctrine of mechanism.
Classification
Nouns denoting people.
Examples
- The 17th-century philosopher René Descartes was a mechanist who viewed the universe as a machine governed by deterministic principles.
- Hobbes, as a mechanist, believed that the natural world and the social world could be reduced to physical causes and laws.
- A mechanist approach to human behavior emphasizes the role of biological and environmental factors in shaping actions and decisions.
- The mechanist perspective on free will argues that human behavior is completely determined by prior causes and is therefore not truly free.
- Baruch Spinoza was a mechanist who thought that God or Nature was a single substance that operates according to necessary laws.