Accidentalism is prevalent in several fields including art, theology, ethics and metaphysics. Generally it can be understood in all contexts as there being an opportunity for random chance to occur. For this episode I will only focus on metaphysics and we may try to do ethics but that one is a little difficult to explain.
The theory of accidentalism contrasts determinism and argues that events happen with no definable cause. The idea is similar to tychism (derived from the greek word τύχη [teeshee] meaning luck). Tychism was introduced by Charles Sanders Peirce who was an American philosopher, logician, mathematician and a lot more. In an article titled, “The Law of Mind” from 1892, Peirce argued that absolute chance is a factor that affects the universe like the laws of physics. This is similar but not the same as accidentalism. He writes,
In an article published in The Monist for January, 1891, I endeavored to show what ideas ought to form the warp of a system of philosophy, and particularly emphasized that of absolute chance. In the number of April, 1892, I argued further in favor of that way of thinking, which it will be convenient to christen tychism (from tyché, chance). A serious student of philosophy will be in no haste to accept or reject this doctrine; but he will see in it one of the chief attitudes which speculative thought may take, feeling that it is not for an individual, nor for an age, to pronounce upon a fundamental question of philosophy. That is a task for a whole era to work out. I have begun by showing that tychism must give birth to an evolutionary cosmology, in which all the regularities of nature and of mind are regarded as products of growth, and to a Schelling-fashioned idealism which holds matter to be mere specialized and partially deadened mind.”
Peirce’s idea supports accidentalism claiming that a factor like absolute chance could contribute to something happening on accident. Another term for accidentalism used interchangeably today is indeterminism that argues the same idea. However, indeterminism is more often than not used in regards to science and math with things like probability by academics like Sir Arthur Eddington, Murray Gell-Mann, Jacques Monod, and Ilya Prigogine.
Accidentalism claims that certain events do happen randomly with nothing that would cause it. 60 Second Philosophy, a group focused on making philosophy accessible wrote a small blog post concerning Accidentalism. Their website says,
“[Accidentalism is] The theory that events can take place outside of a causal chain and that some events have no cause. This is in opposition to determinism which suggests that nothing can occur without being caused by a preceding event. Accidentalism is one way of arguing for the free will of an agent.” 60 Second Philosophy.
Here agent just means a person who has free will. Which is too vast of a concept to discuss in this episode. However, there is an argument against tychism and accidentalism where they both argue it seems things happen by random chance or luck. Opponents of these schools would argue that there is in fact a cause just one we cannot know like, lack of knowledge, scientific resources and possibly access.
In ethics accidentalism is the claim that action made in one mental state is not affected by a previous mental state. WiseGEEK puts it this way, “In ethics, accidentalism is used to explain the occurrence of mental changes that lead to actions that appear to have no relation to the previous psychological state.” Like I said, tough stuff.
As an extra we can do the theological account of accidentalism. Due to the free will God has given humanity, sometimes as agents with free will, we act outside of God’s perfect plan. Jesus had no intention of being on the cross. This is seen in the event known as “Agony In The Garden” when Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane after the Last Supper and before Jesus’ arrest. When Jesus and the disciples went in the garden, Jesus walked ahead and prayed asking his disciples to keep watch. I’m going to read from the gospel of Matthew in the English Standard Version of the Bible where Jesus prays and asks God, the Father to relieve him of the burden of the cross, “And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
That’s all I have for the episode on accidentalism but the next episode is on determinism so be sure to check that out.
Source
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Accidentalism
Peirce, C.S. (1892), “The Law of Mind”, The Monist, v. II, n. 4, July, pp. 533-559 (see first paragraph). Google Books Eprint. Internet Archive Eprint. Reprinted Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce, v. 6, paragraphs 102-163, Philosophical Writings of Peirce pp. 339-360, and The Essential Peirce v. 1, pp. 312-333.
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