(October 1, 2012 at 10:04 pm)IATIA Wrote:(October 1, 2012 at 8:17 pm)Tino Wrote: If you don't have free will, are you accountable for your actions? If you don't believe in free will, do you still hold others accountable for their actions? Why or why not?
Technically, no.
Why did you qualify it with "technically"?
(October 1, 2012 at 10:04 pm)IATIA Wrote: Intelligence has allowed us to modify our existence by establishing goals. ... but the overall success of our species shows out intelligence to be an effective survival tool.
What does intelligence mean in the absence of free will? Isn't intelligence inextricably tied to sensing and choosing, deciding and taking action? If our will isn't free, what good is being intelligent? How does intelligence help our species survive if the actions we ultimately take aren't based on our free decisions, but rather some non-free-will mechanism?
IATIA, are you a non-free-willer, and if so, I'm wondering about my earlier question - do you hold people accountable for their actions?