foreknowledge

Foreknowledge is knowledge of events before they occur. The term is used across philosophy, theology, science, and fiction. It covers various epistemic states, including prediction, prophecy, and, in some contexts, divine or absolute knowledge of future facts.

In philosophy, foreknowledge raises questions about determinism and free will. If an agent is known in advance to perform a certain action, can that knowledge coexist with genuine choice? Positions include compatibilist approaches, which hold that foreknowledge does not constrain freedom, and incompatibilist or open-theism approaches, which suggest limits on foreknowledge or that the future is not fixed. Some accounts distinguish logical, epistemic, and causal dimensions of foreknowledge.

In theology, foreknowledge is often linked to divine omniscience. Traditions debate whether God’s knowledge of the future entails predestination, or whether humans retain free will. Theories such as middle knowledge, simple foreknowledge, and open theism offer different accounts of how foreknowledge relates to freedom and contingency.

In science and policy, foreknowledge refers to informed anticipation based on data, models, and analysis. Forecasts are probabilistic, often uncertain, and used to guide planning in fields such as meteorology, economics, and risk assessment.

In culture, foreknowledge functions as a plot device in literature and media, enabling time-travel stories, prophecies, and causal puzzles.