Fatalism is generally defined as something like “no matter what you think or do the future cannot be altered. It’s Oedipus killing his father despite doing everything he can to avoid it.
Interestingly, fatalism in that sense is compatible with free will as I would understand it: Oedipus can make any choice he likes, it’s just that some specific future event is guaranteed to happen (the particular way in which it happens depending on the choice he makes).
Perhaps one could distinguish between “local” and “global” free will, or—even more sensibly—among degrees of ability to influence the future. (We’re all in Oedipus’s position to some extent, since no matter what we do, the sun is going to rise tomorrow, etc.)
Interestingly, fatalism in that sense is compatible with free will as I would understand it: Oedipus can make any choice he likes, it’s just that some specific future event is guaranteed to happen (the particular way in which it happens depending on the choice he makes).
Perhaps one could distinguish between “local” and “global” free will, or—even more sensibly—among degrees of ability to influence the future. (We’re all in Oedipus’s position to some extent, since no matter what we do, the sun is going to rise tomorrow, etc.)