RE: Is Moral Responsibility Compatible With Determinism?
June 2, 2019 at 4:23 pm
(This post was last modified: June 2, 2019 at 4:24 pm by vulcanlogician.)
I would like to address again the OP's topic generally.
From the perspective of the moral theorist, or (better said) , moral responsibility may come naturally to one who understands that he lives in a determined universe.
Spinoza's Ethics is so chalk full of metaphysics, it is often referred to as a philosophical work of metaphysics. It's easy to forget that Spinoza's intention is to find an adequate ethics (as the title implies) that follows naturally from his robust metaphysics.
Like Plato, Spinoza is a rationalist, (though this moniker was applied long after either philosopher completed his work and may not be the best descriptor of either).
Plato and Spinoza both believed that adequate knowledge would lead to adequate virtue. Why does someone choose to become a car thief? Because they don't have sufficient knowledge to realize they would be happier doing something else and living in an entirely different way. According to Plato and Spinoza, ignorance is to blame for all immorality.
So keeping in mind the "rationalist" relation between knowledge and morality, we see that Spinoza describes what he thinks is the kind of moral agent that results from understanding his metaphysics. Upon realizing determinism is true and also liberating oneself from the imprisoning influence of certain emotions, according to Spinoza one becomes free and possesses a strength of character that accompanies such freedom:
(see the bolded portions especially- my bold)
From the perspective of the moral theorist, or (better said) , moral responsibility may come naturally to one who understands that he lives in a determined universe.
Spinoza's Ethics is so chalk full of metaphysics, it is often referred to as a philosophical work of metaphysics. It's easy to forget that Spinoza's intention is to find an adequate ethics (as the title implies) that follows naturally from his robust metaphysics.
Like Plato, Spinoza is a rationalist, (though this moniker was applied long after either philosopher completed his work and may not be the best descriptor of either).
Plato and Spinoza both believed that adequate knowledge would lead to adequate virtue. Why does someone choose to become a car thief? Because they don't have sufficient knowledge to realize they would be happier doing something else and living in an entirely different way. According to Plato and Spinoza, ignorance is to blame for all immorality.
So keeping in mind the "rationalist" relation between knowledge and morality, we see that Spinoza describes what he thinks is the kind of moral agent that results from understanding his metaphysics. Upon realizing determinism is true and also liberating oneself from the imprisoning influence of certain emotions, according to Spinoza one becomes free and possesses a strength of character that accompanies such freedom:
(see the bolded portions especially- my bold)
Quote:These and similar observations, which we have made on man's true freedom, may be referred tohttp://www.naturalthinker.net/trl/texts/...otions.pdf
strength, that is, to courage and nobility of character (III. lix. note). I do not think it worth while to prove
separately all the properties of strength; much less need I show, that he that is strong hates no man, is angry
with no man, envies no man, is indignant with no man, despises no man, and least of all things is proud.
These propositions, and all that relate to the true way of life and religion, are easily proved from IV. xxxvii.
and xlvi.; namely, that hatred should be overcome with love, and that every man should desire for others the
good which he seeks for himself. We may also repeat what we drew attention to in the note to IV. l., and in
other places; namely, that the strong man has ever first in his thoughts, that all things follow from the
necessity of the divine nature; so that whatsoever he deems to be hurtful and evil, and whatsoever,
accordingly, seems to him impious, horrible, unjust, and base, assumes that appearance owing to his own
disordered, fragmentary, and confused view of the universe. Wherefore he strives before all things to
conceive things as they really are, and to remove the hindrances to true knowledge, such as are hatred, anger,
envy, derision, pride, and similar emotions, which I have mentioned above. Thus he endeavours, as we said
before, as far as in him lies, to do good, and to go on his way rejoicing
