After re-reading the chapter on Free-Will from Nagel, I believe he brings up a very interesting point that I would like to delve deeper into. With absolute determinism, every action by a human could be theoretically predicted, even before you are born. However, this seems to be a very negative view of human nature: in absolute determinism, we theoretically do not have the ability to control our actions to be “good” or “bad” people. Furthermore, if people are acting from a predetermined notion, how could we ever criticize them for doing something wrong? For example, if absolute determinism is correct, Hitler was bound to be an oppressive ruler who would murder millions of Jews even before he could walk! On the other side of the spectrum, how can we look up to “good” people when that is just how they are “programmed”, if you will. Mother Teresa gave up her life for service: if absolute determinism is correct, then we can’t say she did anything extraordinary, just want she was meant to do in the big scheme of things. This is why I find absolute determinism even plausible, because it is takes away everything that makes humans unique and treats us all as if we are puppets being controlled by some outside force.
Jonah I think you bring up a really good point. Absolute determinism seems to take away individual accomplishment. No one can be rewarded, or punished, for their actions because they are all predetermined. Personally, I find this view very disheartening and I think that it destroys free will. I believe that we have options in our lives and can affect the outcome of our lives. Absolute determinism takes this away from people and in my opinion cannot be logically applied to human life.
This is a unique point that I haven’t thought of. Absolute determinism, as described by you, does seem to take away some of that uniqueness that humans always claim to have. However, looking at it a different way, indeterminism could be viewed as just random chance. Events happen due only on chance, no other reason. This view isn’t comforting either because it still does not explain how humans are unique, how could we be unique if everything that we do is by chance?
I don’t see why we should reject a logical conclusion, if it is bitter and unpleasant. You are committing a simple falacy.
That is not a problem at all. We are so used to blame or praise that it would be difficult to embrace their dissolution. Absolute determinism follows logic. You follow your feelings stating this as a problem
Recognising this is a 6-year old thread. I believe in absolute determinism. You say that theoretically every action of a human could be predicted, but this cannot be true because the act of predicting a person’s life would take as much effort as living it, so only partial and incomplete predictions can ever be possible. Although a dictator may have always been destined to be bad, and a saint destined to be good, the fact that this cannot be accurately predicted by any entity can allow absolute determinism while permitting feelings of control, or belief in the power to change the future, due to the gaps left by necessarily imperfect prediction. Free will to some extent is only about predictions either made or thwarted (after all, will is about changing the future). The fact that no prediction can be perfect would naturally give rise to these feelings of control or belief.
Absolute determinism is a consequence of the physical ruleset ermergent propertys operate after, why would it matter for it to be true or not just because it contradicts our understanding of free will? Free will is an abstract construct, no physically induced universal law. The universe couldn’t care less about our opinion, no matter how unlikely we think that could be true, since this believe is only supported by our ignorant view of beeing unique individuals.
We are just deterministic randomized complexity-levels of expressions, which happen to believe because they are complex beyond self analisys, they would be somewhat special. That rather shows how primitive our cognitive complex is tbh.
I agree with Kave