What is Diderot's theory of determinism?
My view of determinism is rooted in materialism: the universe is a vast web of cause and effect, with no supernatural intervention. In Jacques the Fatalist, I explore this through the idea that everything is written 'on the great scroll,' meaning our actions are necessitated by prior causes. Yet I do not deny human agency entirely—rather, I see freedom as the ability to act according to our own nature, which itself is shaped by physical and social forces. This is not a rigid fatalism but a recognition that we are part of a deterministic system, and morality arises from our responses within it.
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