Editing Destiny (section)

==Western philosophy==
===Ancient Greek philosophy===
Philosophy on the concepts of destiny and fate has existed since the Hellenistic period with groups such as the [[Stoics]] and the [[Epicureanism|Epicureans]].

The Stoics believed that human decisions and actions ultimately went according to a divine plan devised by a god.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}} They claimed that although humans theoretically have [[free will]], their souls and the circumstances under which they live are all part of the universal network of fate.

The Epicureans challenged the Stoic beliefs by denying the existence of this divine fate. They believed that a human's actions were voluntary so long as they were rational.<ref name="Encyclopedia of Greece and the Hellenic Tradition">{{cite book|last1=Karamanolis|first1=George E.|title=Vol. 1 of Encyclopedia of Greece and the Hellenic Tradition|date=2000|publisher=Fitzroy Dearborn|location=Chicago, Illinois|pages=610–611}}</ref>

===Modern philosophy===

In common usage, ''destiny'' and ''fate'' are synonymous, but with regard to [[19th-century philosophy]], the words gained inherently different meanings.

For [[Arthur Schopenhauer]], destiny was just a manifestation of the Will to Live, which can be at the same time living fate and choice of overrunning fate, by means of the [[Art]], of the [[Morality]] and of the [[Asceticism|Ascesis]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}

For [[Friedrich Nietzsche]], destiny keeps the form of ''[[Amor fati]]'' (Love of Fate) through the important element of Nietzsche's philosophy, the "[[will to power]]" (der ''Wille zur Macht''), the basis of human behavior, influenced by the Will to Live of Schopenhauer. But this concept may have even other senses, although he, in various places, saw the will to power as a strong element for adaptation or survival in a better way.<ref>Beyond Good & Evil 13, Gay Science 349 & Genealogy of Morality II:12</ref> Nietzsche eventually transformed the idea of matter as centers of force into matter as centers of will to power as humanity's destiny to face with ''amor fati''. The expression ''Amor fati'' is used repeatedly by [[Nietzsche]] as acceptation-choice of the ''fate'', but in such way it becomes even another thing, precisely a "choice" destiny.

[[Determinism]] is a philosophical concept often confused with fate. It can be defined as the notion that all intents/actions are ''causally'' determined by the culminations of an agent's existing circumstances; simply put, everything that happens is determined by things that have already happened.<ref name=Nagel>{{cite book|last1=Nagel|first1=Thomas|author-link1=Thomas Nagel|title=What Does it all Mean?|date=1987|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|chapter=Chapter 6}}</ref> Determinism differs from fate in that it is never conceived as being a spiritual, religious, nor astrological notion; fate is typically thought of as being "given" or "decreed" while determinism is "caused". Influential philosophers like [[Robert Kane (philosopher)|Robert Kane]], [[Thomas Nagel]], [[Roderick Chisholm]], and [[A. J. Ayer]] have written about this notion.