indeterminism

Meanings

1. The doctrine that all human actions are not so much determined by the preceding events, conditions, causes or karma as by deliberate choice or free will.
2. A case in which the uncertainty principle applies; a case in which certain pairs of physical properties such as the position and momentum of a particle cannot be known simultaneously.
3. Any situation in which the outcome cannot be completely predicted in advance.
4. A situation in which there are multiple valid options for next step in a process.

Etymology

Borrowed from French indéterminisme, equivalent to in- + determinism.