clockwork universe
Deterministic celestial machine
The clockwork universe is a philosophical model viewing the cosmos as a vast machine operating by fixed natural laws—set in motion by God, then running without divine intervention.
Associated with Newtonian physics and Enlightenment thought, it imagines existence as predictable and deterministic: In a clockwork universe, free will is an illusion.
Toothed rotating machine parts
- cogsProjections on a wheel
- springsCoils, sources, or leaps
- escapementTick-controlling clock component
- pendulumSuspended swinging weight
automaton · mechanism · orrery · armillary sphere · winding · mainspring · oscillation · perpetual motion
Agreement or musical blend
- balanceSteadiness or amount owed
- symmetryInvariance under transformation
- regularityConsistent, predictable occurrence
- cosmic orderUniverse's fundamental organizing principle
predictability · precision · synchrony · rhythm · uniformity · stability · systematic · celestial harmony
Reason as knowledge source
- deismNon-intervening creator belief
- VoltaireFrench Enlightenment satirist
- LeibnizBaroque-era polymath philosopher-mathematician
- DescartesCogito ergo sum's author
Spinoza · natural law · reason · scientific revolution · first cause
Doctrine of causal necessity
- laws of motionPrinciples governing physical dynamics
- gravityMutual mass attraction
- classical mechanicsLaws governing macroscopic motion
- absolute timeTime flowing uniformly everywhere
inertia · calculus · Galileo · Newton · Laplace · conservation of momentum · centripetal force · orbital mechanics
Predetermined course of events
- predestinationDivinely predetermined fate
- inevitabilityQuality of being unavoidable
- causalityCause-effect connection
- necessityIndispensable requirement
gears
Toothed rotating machine parts
- cogsProjections on a wheel
- springsCoils, sources, or leaps
- escapementTick-controlling clock component
pendulum · automaton · mechanism · orrery · armillary sphere · winding · mainspring · oscillation · perpetual motion · mechanical precision
harmony
Agreement or musical blend
- balanceSteadiness or amount owed
- symmetryInvariance under transformation
- regularityConsistent, predictable occurrence
cosmic order · predictability · precision · synchrony · rhythm · uniformity · stability · systematic · celestial harmony · elegant simplicity
rationalism
Reason as knowledge source
- deismNon-intervening creator belief
- VoltaireFrench Enlightenment satirist
- LeibnizBaroque-era polymath philosopher-mathematician
Descartes · Spinoza · natural law · reason · scientific revolution · first cause
determinism
Doctrine of causal necessity
- laws of motionPrinciples governing physical dynamics
- gravityMutual mass attraction
- classical mechanicsLaws governing macroscopic motion
absolute time · inertia · calculus · Galileo · Newton · Laplace · conservation of momentum · centripetal force · orbital mechanics · cosmic order
fate
Predetermined course of events
- predestinationDivinely predetermined fate
- inevitabilityQuality of being unavoidable
- causalityCause-effect connection
necessity · immutable · predictability · foreordained · no free will
- Deismfirst cause, non-intervention, Thomas Paine, Voltaire, Jefferson
- mechanismmechanism, Newtonian mechanics, classical mechanics, automata, automatism
- classical physicsNewton, Newton's laws, Newtonian physics, laws of motion, force
clockwork universeindeterminism
Doctrine allowing genuine randomness
free will · chaos · randomness · quantum mechanics · uncertainty principle
clockwork universechaos
Complete disorder and confusion
entropy · disorder · unpredictability · turbulence · butterfly effect
clock, clocks, clocked, clocking, clockwise, clockwork, works, worked, working