overdetermination
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Overdetermination occurs when a single observed effect is determined by multiple causes, any one of which alone would be conceivably sufficient to account for ("determine") the effect. The term "overdetermination" () was used by Sigmund Freud as a key concept in his psychoanalysis, and later by Louis Althusser.
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9 sectionsContents
- Classical Greek psychology
- Freud and psychoanalysis
- Richards and literature
- Althusser and structuralist Marxism
- In analytic philosophy
- See also
- References
- Sources
- External links
Overdetermination occurs when a single observed effect is determined by multiple causes, any one of which alone would be conceivably sufficient to account for ("determine") the effect. The term "overdetermination" () was used by Sigmund Freud as a key concept in his psychoanalysis, and later by Louis Althusser.
In the philosophy of science, the concept of overdetermination has been used to describe a situation in which there are more causes present than are necessary to instantiate an effect. Overdetermination here is in contrast to underdetermination, when the number or strength of causes is insufficient.