w00t! First thread in the new forum!
Having said that, I used to be a proponent of free will, but I'm not so sure anymore.
I consider that determinism implies that humans are bound by the laws of cause and effect, and that the opposite of determinism (free will) would clearly imply that actions can escape the laws of cause and effect. But this doesnt make sense, because if you try to explain actions without making references to causes and effects, then it is implied that actions random acausal events - but we know that interpretation is false by experience.
A few comments on determinism:
- I think the turn off to determinism is the idea that people wont be held morally responsible for their actions (compared to the moral implications of a random acausal event?), but I dont think this is the case as long as we consider that moral responsibility implies that a person knows what he or she is doing, and that their intentions and desires play some part in the outcome of their actions.
- I also think a turn off is the idea that people arent in control of their actions, but determinism suggests that peoples actions will come from them, as they are affected by the interests, beliefs, desires, memories, experiences of the person performing the action (in other words, you actions are determined by the inner circumstances that make you *you*, so how could your actions - even if determined - come from any other place but you?).
- And finally, there is a stigma that determinism implies that the future is predestined. This isnt really a bad thing, because psychology and sociology sciences are based on the idea that much of human behavior is predictable (at least according to statistical norms). But, perhaps more to the point, it may not be possible to predict the outcome of future events based on knowledge of present variables, because as soon as you figure out all the present variables you have changed the present variables - this is a kind of feedback loop which necessarily makes predicting the outcome of future events with absolute accurate impossible even in principle. This implies that although all of our actions are a determined product of cause and effect forces, the future is certainly very malleable rather than a predestined template of actions waiting to unfold.
Comments?
Having said that, I used to be a proponent of free will, but I'm not so sure anymore.
I consider that determinism implies that humans are bound by the laws of cause and effect, and that the opposite of determinism (free will) would clearly imply that actions can escape the laws of cause and effect. But this doesnt make sense, because if you try to explain actions without making references to causes and effects, then it is implied that actions random acausal events - but we know that interpretation is false by experience.
A few comments on determinism:
- I think the turn off to determinism is the idea that people wont be held morally responsible for their actions (compared to the moral implications of a random acausal event?), but I dont think this is the case as long as we consider that moral responsibility implies that a person knows what he or she is doing, and that their intentions and desires play some part in the outcome of their actions.
- I also think a turn off is the idea that people arent in control of their actions, but determinism suggests that peoples actions will come from them, as they are affected by the interests, beliefs, desires, memories, experiences of the person performing the action (in other words, you actions are determined by the inner circumstances that make you *you*, so how could your actions - even if determined - come from any other place but you?).
- And finally, there is a stigma that determinism implies that the future is predestined. This isnt really a bad thing, because psychology and sociology sciences are based on the idea that much of human behavior is predictable (at least according to statistical norms). But, perhaps more to the point, it may not be possible to predict the outcome of future events based on knowledge of present variables, because as soon as you figure out all the present variables you have changed the present variables - this is a kind of feedback loop which necessarily makes predicting the outcome of future events with absolute accurate impossible even in principle. This implies that although all of our actions are a determined product of cause and effect forces, the future is certainly very malleable rather than a predestined template of actions waiting to unfold.
Comments?
