Thread: Free Will
View Single Post
Old 08-11-2003, 04:25 PM   #25 (permalink)
Moonduck
Junkie
 
Location: SE USA
"if your actions are fixed, then you don't have free will. That is the entire definition of free will. "

Depends on your point of view. If you choose your action, if you weigh your choices on pros vs cons, etc, is that not free will? What matters if there is some deterministic future? If, at any moment, your choices matter little in the big picture, how does that diminish your ability to choose?

You seem to be implying that a set future removes your ability to choose. I say that a set future is the product of many choices. Now, if you add in the corollary of widespread foreknowledge, then you argue a point about a deterministic future devaluing free will. The hypothetical precognitive being will foresee the future and perhaps have a good case for its' free will being hampered, but the rest of humanity? Only if you are willing to argue that there is some being guiding billions of indvidual actors towards a certain set future.

"If we cannot alter our actions, then we don't have free will, we are mere automata with the illusion of having free will."

With such a statement you fall into the epistemological trap of phenomena. If an observer's whole phenomenal perceptive array shows us empirically to have free will, free will is reality for said observer. To say otherwise wanders away from any sort of empirically provable or observable reality into pointless metaphysics.

Honestly, your premise leads to the idea that an artist has no choice as to what she paints simply because the painting will eventually have some form. Look at it from the opposite side and try to prove that the theoretical existence of set future (an idea I find ludicrous), denies free will. How does the knowledge that some act I will make has an eventual outcome devalue my choice to perform said action?
Moonduck is offline  
 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360