Determinism is the belief that every action is the sum of causes and that given those causes it is impossible that the event could not occur. It was a belief held in varying degrees by Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), David Hume (1711-1776) and John Stuart Mill (1806-1873). The central tenets of determinism can be understood from the following example. If I invite a friend who is vegetarian round to dinner and give them a choice between …showed first 75 words of 1712 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1712 total…it looks as though our decisions are arbitrary and random. If this is the case then how can this be exhibiting moral responsibility? Furthermore, libertarianism may also lead to relativism which may then lead to a version of nihilism (no justification for values). This would be worrying for any libertarian and they may want to claim some understanding of moral certainty, but in doing so are they also conceding ground to determinists by doing so?