The notions of necessity (νάγκη) and case (τύχη) in the Greek tradition. The relationship between these two notions that are not opposed.
Need and case in Democritus.
The Platonic conception of chance.
The case in the Physics (II, iv-vi) of Aristotle. τατόματον and τύχη.
The Aristotelian conception of necessity within the framework of its metaphysics.
Determinism and freedom in Stoic philosophy.
Case and laws of nature in Epicureanism, especially in De Rerum Natura di Lucrezio.
Boethius.
Late medieval views of chance and determination.
The scientific revolution. The laws of nature and mechanism.
The Newtonian paradigm. Laplace.
The emergence of probability.
Thermodynamics and irreversible phenomena.
The kinetic theory of gases and statistical mechanics.
Boltzmann and the statistical notion of entropy. Phase space and Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution.
The problems of statistical mechanics. The theorems of Poincaré and Zermelo. Ergodicity.
Indeterminism in Quantum Mechanics. The Schrödinger equation. Bohm's theory and other epistemic interpretations. Ontic Probability.
The case in Biology. Monod and the relationships between chance and coincidences. The role of chance in biological evolution.