Tonight over food and beer, hopefully we can have a good topic of conversation that we can all weigh in on, at least superficially. I propose the idea of "free will" as tonight's central topic.
1) Are we free moral agents? Can we choose and act freely? What does this mean?
2) Are we morally responsible for what we do? In all contexts? In some?
I suggest reading the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy's entry just to get a feel for the views on the topics: compatibilists, determinists, incompatibilists, libertarians, pessimists...
Looking forward to it.
Gator Freethought is a registered student organization at UF that provides freethinkers of any religious background the opportunity to discuss religion and nonreligion alike.
Well I'm bummed I can't go. I'm stuck here eating crackers and jello. Good topic, though.
ReplyDeleteI think it's clear that there is no free will, if by free will we mean some force that allows us to simply choose something for no reason. There is always a reason why we do things. In that sense, a combination of genes and environment (in a very broad sense) determine everything we do. Of course, our thought patterns, including any logical flaws we may make, also play a part but they are determined by a combination of genes and environment, again.
This does not mean a rejection of moral responsibility because part of our environment is the social and other consequences we reap when we do something wrong. So by telling someone they are wrong (or inflicting punishment if the infraction is serious enough), we are part of the environment that may help shape (determine) that person's behavior in the future. On the other hand, if we don't hold people responsibile for their behavior they are almost certain to repeat it, so we are again helping to determine their future behavior only this time in a bad way.
--Lynne
I find myself agreeing with both your assessment of "free will" and your prescription for responsibility becoming a part of the "molding" effect of the environment.
ReplyDeleteGreat comment.