Parametric determinism refers to a Marxist interpretation of the course of history formulated by Prof. Ernest Mandel, and it could be viewed as one variant of Marx's historical materialism or as a philosophy of history.
In an article critical of the Analytical Marxism of Jon Elster, Mandel explains the idea as follows:
Dialectical determinism as opposed to mechanical, or formal-logical determinism, is also parametric determinism; it permits the a...
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Parametric determinism refers to a Marxist interpretation of the course of history formulated by Prof. Ernest Mandel, and it could be viewed as one variant of Marx's historical materialism or as a philosophy of history.
In an article critical of the Analytical Marxism of Jon Elster, Mandel explains the idea as follows:
Dialectical determinism as opposed to mechanical, or formal-logical determinism, is also parametric determinism; it permits the adherent of historical materialism to understand the real place of human action in the way the historical process unfolds and the way the outcome of social crises is decided. Men and women indeed make their own history. The outcome of their actions is not mechanically predetermined. Most, if not all, historical crises have several possible outcomes, not innumerable fortuitous or arbitrary ones; that is why we use the expression ‘parametric determinism’ indicating several possibilities within a given set of parameters.
A similar interpretation...
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