Free Will Part II: What’s so Bad about Determinism anyways?

In our day to day lives, it certainly seems that we do lots of choosing. This of course, could be mere appearance, but i think our language about decisions and our common-sensical view that we have this power to choose may say something about the nature of reality. Generally, proponents of free will, non-philosophers, are opposed to the idea of a deterministic universe. It seems to constricting. No one likes the idea that our lives are merely being “played out” and that we have no real control. However, I would argue that determinism is really the only way we could possibly want the world to be.

If the world was genuinely indeterministic – not probabilistic - but actually IN-determined, it seems we would have even LESS choice or control. How would we make free choices in a world that is essentially chaotic and unsystematic. In this indeterministic world, there would be no causal connection between events. Supposing we actually have the power to choose in this world, our choices would be completely misguided and random. So although we may have some new metaphysical freedom to genuinely choose between two alternative outcomes, our decision would be a mere shot in the dark. Insofar as are choices are random, it would seem we have even less control than if we had been causally determined. 

Determinism proposes that we make our ‘choices’ based on causal factors that influence our decisions in one direction over the other. So although we are led to a decision by past events, at least this sort of choice is consistent with what we want (or what we think we ought to want). So I would take the position of the compatibilist or soft deterministic in saying that any sort of choosing we could want to make is available within a deterministic universe. Although when observed from an objective, omniscient perspective (omniscient to the point of knowing about every physical simply in the universe since sometime around the Big Bang), human action may be completely predicable; insofar as it feels as though I have the choice of what I’m having for breakfast – I’m satisfied. I would rather be completely fooled by the illusion of choices that are in compliance with my wants and needs than being able to genuinely choose but have no control over what I’m choosing. The sort of absolute freedom the libertarian wants is more than just a pipe dream, it would actually be a sort of chaotic barrier to choosing.

The compatibilist account of freedom: 

1. You did x.

2. You wanted and “chose” to do x. (went through the motion of choosing at least)

3. You had several options available to you. You ‘could have done otherwise’, but you chose x because of 2.

4. If you had “chosen” y instead, you would have done y instead.

So as long as we are not somehow coerced into choosing or physically restricted to making a particular choice, we are free. For now I’m content with this view.

Next time, I’ll post a paper I wrote recently on determinism and choosing.

Beginnings

Dear reader,

Let me first begin by introducing this blog and telling you a bit about myself. I’m a college student currently studying philosophy and religion. I’m still very new to all of this material and don’t claim to have any unique philosophical perspective. This blog was created to help me organize my thoughts and keep track of what I’m reading. I also think this will be a great way to track my progression as a philosophy student, both in my understanding of these issues as well as my perspective and beliefs. It is for this reasons that this blog is for me more than anything else. I may share it with a few friends with mutual interest in this area. However, I’m humbly admitting to having no idea what I’m talking about. At worst, this blog will show that I’m an ignorant fool and at best, will promote some interesting conversation. Either way, I think this will be a helpful learning experience for me. I will do my best to keep up with this, updating at least once a week. As well as discussing works I’m studying or reading, I’ll also include interesting class discussions or conversations I’ve had with friends. I am going to try to avoid rambling and keep this as organized as possible. 

Where to begin.