ABSTRACT
On a more general and abstract level than that taken by van Geert (this volume, chap. 1), I would like to discuss an apparently recent change in science’s view of order and change, that is, the (re)occurrence of metaphysical commitment in a disorderly and dynamic universe. Very briefly, I try to place the issue within a philosophical and sociohistorical context first, and look at the contemporary fields of mathematics, physics, biology, and communication in this regard and at their reflections into psychology. By doing so, I expect to contour various meanings and connotations that the notion of determinism/indeterminism has gained (or lost) in time, and are still in use, in various scientific circles.
