Questions tagged [determinism]
The doctrine that every event has a cause. The main philosophical interest of determinism has been in assessing its implications for free will.
1
vote
0answers
35 views
When did the idea of free will begin? Same for determinism
Hey so I'm doing this free will v determinism thing for class and I've tried but I can't seem to find when the separate beliefs came about. I know Socrates and Aristotle had something to do with them ...
-1
votes
1answer
57 views
Why is the word “however” used here? What does it mean? [closed]
I was reading a Wikipedia article on fatalism and the idle argument. It says a Stoic philosopher "attempted to refute" it and then it states the argument. The very next line it uses the word "however"....
1
vote
1answer
266 views
How does Quantum Mechanics disprove determinism? [duplicate]
I personally believe in determinism and understand the basics of quantum mechanics, but don't see how any of it disproves that the universe is deterministic. Electrons cannot move change momentum or ...
2
votes
2answers
151 views
How can we be accountable if we are chemically programmed?
If we accept that molecular biology largely explains cognitive function deterministically, how can we be accountable?
Is determinism not inherently nihilist in that a person is a victim of ...
1
vote
0answers
68 views
Standard Argument against free will rebuttal
The Standard argument against free will states that an action is either predetermined or random and that these two options exhaust all the possibilities, leaving no room for true free will.
To ...
2
votes
4answers
240 views
How can Determinism be true in light of the Free Will Theorem
The Free Will Theorem states:
Given the axioms, if the two experimenters in question are free to make choices about what measurements to take, then the results of the measurements cannot be ...
3
votes
2answers
135 views
If everything is ruled by determinism, what rules determinism itself?
If everything is ruled by determinism, what rules determinism itself?
Has any philosopher ever explored this matter?
1
vote
2answers
111 views
Why should we even think about determinism?
So I've browsed through some questions here but none of them really fits my thought process: If you assume that determinism is not the case, your actions will therefore be the right decision. If ...
5
votes
3answers
164 views
Could reality be a projection of another reality?
I'm new to metaphysics.
So, I apologize if this is an established question.
I've been asking the question, could reality be a projection of another reality?
In geometry, you can project a three ...
1
vote
1answer
140 views
What puts Christians off “hard determinism”?
Scott Christensen has written a book, "What about free will?" published 1995, in which two Christian positions are examined. They are, page 238, Libertarian Beliefs and Compatabilist Beliefs. However, ...
2
votes
1answer
76 views
Is free will required in order to differentiate between the subconscious and the conscious?
If the subconscious motivates actions in a way that we are not aware of, then its fair to say that we don't have control over our subconscious. If I were to look at this from a determinist perspective,...
3
votes
2answers
154 views
Is the question of moral responsibility a valid one against determinism?
One of the questions I feel is most commonly asked about determinism is "how can people be responsible for their actions if they were following a determined fate? is it right to punish people for bad ...
2
votes
1answer
93 views
Can causally unconnected things become causally connected?
Things have properties and what it means by being in a causal connection is one object's property/properties determines the property/properties of the other object with which the first object ...
0
votes
2answers
220 views
If hard determinism is true, why should we try to better ourselves?
If hard determinism is true, then it was never really my choice to be the person I am at this exact moment. There’s also only one path from this point forward, so if I’m going to eventually be a good ...
14
votes
6answers
8k views
How can a person truly love another if hard determinism is true?
I have a wife and two kids. According to hard determinism, I was determined since time began moving forward to marry my wife and have my children. Every moment we share together was also predetermined,...
0
votes
2answers
241 views
How do I believe in free will? [closed]
After considering all possible ways that famous philosophers have tried to explain it, and reading so many articles that treat it like God’s greatest gift to mankind, I still don’t get it.
Is it that ...
0
votes
3answers
120 views
Łukasiewicz & statements about the past
I think this is a fair presentation of Łukasiewicz's view on past, present, and future statements in an answer by Johannes https://philosophy.stackexchange.com/a/31995/29944: "His view is that ...
1
vote
2answers
169 views
Can we control our emotions? [closed]
Suppose a man works 15 hour shifts to provide for his wife and 10 kids, and after a very long and exhaustive day, he comes home to find his wife in bed with another man.
At what point does the man ...
2
votes
1answer
246 views
How does free will give life “meaning”?
Many people have suggested that if we don’t have free will, then life is essentially meaningless because everything we’ve ever thought or done has already been determined. I’m not sure why determinism ...
4
votes
3answers
181 views
Are There Alternatives to Determinism and Stochasticism?
From my physicist's point of view, there are basically two ways of seeing the world: The world can be fundamentally deterministic or fundamentally stochastic (see also indeterminism). I believe that ...
2
votes
3answers
64 views
What role does “DESIRE” play in materialistic determinism?
Let us assume the worldview of extreme materialistic determinism. This is the belief that everything is the result of its material make up.
This view goes so far as to eliminate free will. Our ...
1
vote
0answers
60 views
About Aaron Snyder, The Paradox of Determinism
I am looking at Aaron Snyder's The Paradox of Determinism (American Philosophical Quarterly Vol.9, n.4, Oct. 1970)
Is it still discussed? Are his claims and arguments taken in account in present ...
1
vote
3answers
94 views
How do moral skeptics respond to the concept of permissible heinous acts
The Problem
Let's say I am debating my friend Jake who believes that morality exists. But I am a hard determinist who believes that all actions are predetermined by some act or event beforehand. Jake ...
1
vote
0answers
211 views
Is Freedom in existentialism compatible with determinism
Is freedom in existentialism compatible with determinism. Or does it simply refer to the subjective experience of deciding amongst a variety of possibilities
1
vote
2answers
106 views
Free will: is reality a record, a game or unpredictable?
If a world is a record (a film), then this scenario does not have conditional rules, i.e., if it can be implemented as a computer program, it will not have "if ... then ..." commands.
If a world is a ...
3
votes
3answers
430 views
Being a determinist and a believer in a multiverse seems contradictatory
A determinist holds that everything is determined by the physical world around them and free will is an illusion.
A multiverse suggests there are an infinite number of alternative universes in ...
4
votes
5answers
197 views
Questioning determinism (example)
Questioning the world's deterministic behaviour, I shall present an example which seems to defy any certainty about the recurrence of events and is (obviously) a result of faulty logic, but I would ...
5
votes
5answers
594 views
I can't see how free will exists in a universe that's only causal or random, can I be convinced otherwise?
From what I've looked into on the topic of free will, I've found it difficult to see how it could exist in a universe of pure causality or randomness. However, I haven't fully abandoned the idea of ...
1
vote
1answer
83 views
Many worlds defeats Doomsday argument (betting version)? [closed]
Here is a calculation regarding observers placing bets in the many-worlds scenario.
Let us assume that an observer has some current rank n in the human race (there have been n-1 humans born before ...
3
votes
1answer
104 views
What term describes 'statements about future events can't have a truth value until they occur' & ' what'll happen will happen'?
Source: Benatar, D. The Human Predicament (2017 1 edn). p. 235, for p. 114 Footnote 30.
I add this qualification because some people may think that unless determinism is true, [1.] future events ...
asked May 20 '18 at 20:55
Greek - Area 51 Proposal
3,2852 gold badges16 silver badges52 bronze badges
0
votes
2answers
129 views
Is there any formal axiomatized definition of Determinism in First Order Logic (FOL), or any other logical system for that matter?
Is there any formal axiomatized definition of Determinism written in First Order Logic (FOL), with a semantic interpretation maybe rooted in Set Theory, or based on any other logical system and ...
3
votes
3answers
222 views
How is free-will formally defined as distinct from determinism, randomness and determinism-randomness hybrid to support moral responsibility?
Usually free-will is assumed by most faith traditions as a prerequisite for moral responsiblity in order to justify eternal punishment. The argument goes as "you are truly responsible for your immoral ...
0
votes
2answers
81 views
Free will, what do philosophers think this is? [closed]
My personal definition of free will is my ability to be the prime mover of all my practical actions.
I am a physical being bounded by my physical and psychological needs, but I can choose and apply ...
2
votes
3answers
422 views
Is it unfair to eternally punish people in hell if determinism is true?
If determinism happens to be true, then people just do what the laws of Physics governing the chemical interactions of neurons in their brains make them do. In such a scenario, wouldn't it be unfair ...
1
vote
1answer
88 views
Against Historical (or Geographical) Determinism
It seems that determinism has gained tremendously in terms of being accepted as a general theory of everything by a large number of people. Books like The Selfish Gene and Guns, Germs, and Steel have ...
2
votes
0answers
62 views
Hume and Strawson on Libertarianism and Determinism
a) What is the traditional dispute between libertarianism and determinism, and how does Hume reconcile the two?
b) What is Strawson’s claim to be an improvement on Hume?
4
votes
1answer
132 views
Can small random pieces produce a deterministic whole?
Quantum mechanics offers some statistical reasoning for small pieces of length in the Universe (please correct me if I'm wrong). To some extent everything has uncertainty. We might even say that it is ...
2
votes
13answers
774 views
Sketch of a proof for real free will?
I have read many contemporary philosophers and the mainstream view seems to be that real free will is an illusion in the sense that consciousness is an emergent phenomenon which is only set on top of ...
5
votes
1answer
266 views
Why does Newcomb's paradox seem to have different solutions depending on when the choice is made despite determinism?
I believe the Newcomb's paradox is a significant problem in philosophy, since I regard it as a well formulated version of the lazy argument (under certain conditions) with real life implications.
...
1
vote
1answer
267 views
Can someone explain Compatibilism to me?
Here is the definition of Free will:
Free Will: Ability to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded.
and that of Determinism:
Determinism: All events are completely ...
1
vote
2answers
351 views
Richard Taylor’s determinism
What are the premises he’s stating:
…determinism cannot be reconciled with [the fact that] it is sometimes up to me what I am going to do. For
if it is ever really up to me whether to do this thing ...
1
vote
1answer
191 views
Why does utilitarianism presuppose that objective utility can exist and is to the benefit of a society?
Utilitarianism asserts that a society can operate according to the benefit of the most members of the population, and that actions on behalf of a society should maximize utility. Why does it assert ...
2
votes
2answers
135 views
Is the existence of an omniscient creature impossible?
I'm not talking about God, so the subject doesn't have to be omnipotent. Is there any logical inconsistency that would make the existence of such creature impossible? How would determinism affect the ...
2
votes
5answers
289 views
How can our actions be regarded as free if they are causally determined?
After all, soft determinists are determinists, so they believe that our actions are causally determined. How can our actions be regarded as free if they are causally determined?
4
votes
1answer
120 views
Would there be free will if we assume a stochastic component in the decision making?
I was reading this answer regarding materialism and free will. It says that, under the assumption that there isn't a random process underlying decision making, there is no free will.
And isn't that a ...
3
votes
1answer
91 views
Which known philosophers are firm determinists?
I'm aware of the compatibilist attitude by some philosophers, such as Hegel and Daniel Dennet. I am interested in some philosophers who are firm determinists (deny free will).
2
votes
3answers
192 views
Is the way we love deterministric?
Is the only way we are able to love the way we have been loved?
In other words: Do we learn how to love? What is the relation between giving love and receiving love? (regardless of the definition of ...
1
vote
2answers
201 views
Logical Fallacies in Blomstrom's Wager
I discovered a discussion of logical fallacies inherent in Pascal's Wager. It occurred to me that a similar strategy could be used to sidestep the debate regarding determinism: It simply makes sense ...
3
votes
2answers
404 views
Determinism vs Coin Flip
Some have argued that you can escape determinism (assuming it's real to begin with) by flipping a coin: heads = chocolate, tails = strawberry.
But determinists can argue that you were preordained to ...
4
votes
5answers
1k views
What is the purpose of consciousness?
Please jump to the 'Edit' portion of the question, because the below portion MAY seem confusing or irrelevant.
Assuming that the control over things we have is illusory, as beautifully explained by ...
