necessarian

See also: Necessarian

English

Alternative forms

• Necessarian

Noun

necessarian (plural necessarians)

1. (philosophy, theology) An adherent of necessarianism; an advocate of the doctrine of necessity.
   • 1810, Charles Buck, Materialists, entry in A Theological Dictionary, Volume 2, page 86,

     And the Necessarian asserts, that if, in any given state of mind, with respect both to dispositions and motives, two different determinations, or volitions, be possible, it can be on no other principle, than that one of them should come under the description of an effect without a cause; just as if the beam of a balance might incline either way, though loaded with equal weights.

   • 1832, Joseph Priestley, edited by John Towill Rutt, The Theological and Miscellaneous Works of Joseph Priestley, volume 4, page 191:

     But neither you nor myself, necessarian as I am, can pretend to this degree of perfection.

   • 1877, Harriet Martineau, edited by Maria Weston Chapman, Harriet Martineau′s Autobiography, volume 1, Cambridge University Press, published 2010, page 112:

     When it is considered that, according to the Necessarian doctrine, no action fails to produce effects, and no effort can be lost, there seems every reason for the conclusion which I have no doubt is the fact, that true Necessarians must be the most diligent and confident of all workers.

Synonyms

• necessitarian

See also

• doctrine of necessity

Anagrams

• Renaissance, renaissance