Re: A defence of determinism


ray_sitf@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

Surely our "standard" model of the human mind requires that type 3
events occur. (I am not defending the standard model, but it seems to
be pervasive, - I am not aware of a single culture throughout the whole
of human history that has not endorsed it).....

Uncaused events can be divided into random events and acts of free
will. Acts of free will are more complicated in that they require an
originator who makes supposedly uncaused decisions in accordance with
reason or conscience. Various philosophers, including I think the
Buddha, have doubted the existence of random events and the existence
of free will.

The standard model states
that human beings do what they do through decision making and acts of
will. In particular, when a person carries out a criminal act, then
he/she is held responsible for that act and often punished.

A determinist doesn't need to deny that people make voluntary
decisions. However, he would claim that these decisions are determined
by factors such as desires, values, conditioning, and so on -- in other
words, people don't arrive at decisions from 'out of the blue'.
Rewards and punishments can be used to alter behaviour without any
belief in free will. However, without such a belief, moral outrage and
retribution become harder to justify.

Now, if only 1 or 2 type events were possible, then it would make no
sense to punish anyone. Yet, no matter how hard any of us tries, it is
impossible not to believe that we and others are not responsible for
our actions. None of us THINKS that we are an automaton.

In a way, we are responsible for our actions if we are the immediate
cause of them. Why should a sentient being conclude that he is an
automaton rather than that he is a biological organism?

Secondly, I am impressed by the (admittedly unclear) argument that if
our actions are causally determined, then there is no such thing as
truth (and probably meaning), because our concept of truth presupposes
an "agent", one who can make choices between options (i.e. which
statements are true and which false) and is guided by a desire to
discover the true state of nature. If the standard determinist factors
were at work - genes, environment, atoms, biology, whatever, then there
could be no concept of truth. If our discovery of "true" propositions
is "caused", then they aren't really known to be true.

I tend to take a pragmatic approach to truth -- beliefs that square
with our experience and are consonant with our general world view are
said to be 'true'. Our ability to reason has evolved in a similar way
to our other abilities like sight and hearing.

Thanks for your thoughtful comments.

.

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