Gregg R Thomas

_Robert_ wrote:
Does anyone have an argument against an infinite number of possible futures, each one dependent on the present state?

Not sure what you’re getting at, so I’ll just say that the future will probably be just like the past that got us here today: cause and effect, cause and effect, with some of those causes happening randomly…[Read more]

Simon Paynton wrote:
I can see the logic in determinism – that we are now a complete product of the past.  However.  What about this?  It has been determined that we have a level of free choice given the many constraints on our existence.

The determinism I talk about only refers to the immediately proximate causes, the sufficient causes, igno…[Read more]

I think it’s a lot easier to trace the broad-strokes of what has been, than to predict what will be.  There’s probably a mathematical theorem that states it would take more resources than there are in the universe.

Reality is chaotic and contingent.  So are we in some ways.

I can see the logic in determinism – that we are now a complete p…[Read more]

Dennett redefines free will so that it no longer involves a truly free choice among alternatives and can thus be made compatible with the truths of science. So, he accepts determinism, but limits its scope so that it stops at the door of morality.

He makes the reality of free will depend on our need for morality rather than the other way around.…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:
More true is that everything that happens on the level of human experience happens due to proximate causes, not due to The Big Bang.

It’s also shaped by evolution.  Evolutionary psychology recognises two kinds of motivation: ultimate and proximate; or, evolutionary pressures and psychological pressures.  Ancient humans said, “I n…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:
My cat can choose to eat the food I put out or, in her kitty cat way, tell me she wants something else. So, by the standard you are using, my cat must have free will and then be morally responsible for killing mice.

What about when your cat tries to decide whether to go out or not?  They can spend ages trying to make their mind…[Read more]

Just a thought: Dennett rescues the notion of free will by diminishing it. I think that most people who value free will are going to find Dennett’s free will less than fully satisfying.

@ Reg

Prof. Dennett confuses determinists with predeterminists. He argues, in so many words, “If determinism is true, then the future is entirely laid out ahead of time until the end of time.” That’s a pastiche of several things he says in the video you gave us, as well as in other videos.

I’m sure there are determinists who hold that view, but…[Read more]

It might be worth giving Dennett another chance to make his case on ‘Determinism’ (and the ‘free will’ that matters).

Simon Paynton wrote:

Unseen wrote:
For the ones involving deliberation even the deliberation just happens in a sense. If I say “Choices just happen and I don’t know how the brain does it,” that doesn’t really scream “free will” to me.

Well, just because we can’t explain something, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

Yes, whether or not we have free…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:
For the ones involving deliberation even the deliberation just happens in a sense. If I say “Choices just happen and I don’t know how the brain does it,” that doesn’t really scream “free will” to me.

Well, just because we can’t explain something, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

We all have our choices limited to more or less extent…[Read more]

Simon Paynton wrote:
As far as most people go, they all have the same level of free will, whether or not that free will is illusory.  They can choose to keep the law, or choose to break it.  That’s enough free will to convict a typical person who has broken the law.

Illusory free will is the absence of free will, isn’t it?

That someone can cho…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:
If free will is false or makes no sense whatsoever, how can we hold people morally responsible?

Some people are not held morally responsible for crimes because they were mentally ill: they have diminished responsibility and their rational freedom of choice was impaired.  Some people have personality disorders: should they be blamed…[Read more]

@ Reg

That was a very interesting discussion for someone like me who’s interested in philosophical issues and who thinks that, contrary to those who argue “Philosophy is dead,” philosophy is important and as society and technology advance, is becoming even more so.

My last paragraph in the original post, which reads, And here’s a really d…[Read more]

jakelafort wrote:
Ya know the scapegoating of Jews, the historical distortions and lies, the attribution of western sins projected onto Jews is antisemitism. The denial of their right to a state is antisemitism. The insane hyperfocus and double/higher standards is antisemitsm. But equally or more important the hyperfocus by the far left on Israel…

[Read more]

What’s it like to be a p-zombie?

The Warning’s Dany and Pau are in the top 10  Best Mexican Female Singers list, and Dany is #1!!!