RE: Nihilism
January 12, 2018 at 2:14 pm
(This post was last modified: January 12, 2018 at 2:40 pm by The Grand Nudger.)
(January 12, 2018 at 1:57 pm)Neo-Scholastic Wrote: Imho those favoring either hard determinism or compatibalism assume that the physical universe is causally closed.Theological determinism assumes that the "physical universe" is causally open, particularly to a god that exists somehow outside of or beyond the "physical universe". Determinism, in any form, is not a comment on whether or not the universe is causally closed or open. It's nothing more or less than the notion that events are necessitated by antecedents.
Quote:As for me I'm not convinced that it is nor am I convinced that the mechanical theories of causation that underlie determinism, the kind that are like billiard balls an watches, survive close scrutiny.
A creator god is a determinist mechanical theory of causation. It's the most absolute expression thereof. It posits an entity as the singular antecedent which necessitates -all- events.
An interesting question, regarding things beyond this universe that have causal potential.....at least as far as it relates to determinism, is this. Are those things, forces, and entities "beyond the universe" made of their own "beyond the universe" stuff? An immaterial stuff. Do those things (and that stuff) have properties and predictable interactions? Would we then be forced to confront an immaterial determinism after escaping physical determinism through the causal holes in our universe?
Proposing something meaningfully immaterial does not explain how that thing is meaningfully free from immaterial antecedent. Our fallen nature as creatures is said to be explained by a blemish on our souls, after all.
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