A philosophical or practical position that emphasizes accident, chance, or coincidence as an important force in the world or in a particular system.
From accidental + -ism (suffix creating systems of thought). Developed in philosophical discourse in the 19th-20th centuries.
Philosophers debating 'accidentalism' are essentially arguing: how much of history, success, and life is just random luck versus deliberate action? It's a word for the eternal 'fate versus effort' argument.
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