RE: The free will argument demonstrates that christians don't understand free will.
May 1, 2014 at 8:08 pm
(This post was last modified: May 1, 2014 at 8:43 pm by Coffee Jesus.)
(May 1, 2014 at 7:42 pm)ChadWooters Wrote: I don't see how that applies. Human behavior is generally intentional which is the opposite of random.
A vast literature of psychological research shows that our choices are governed by the laws of chance. Free will could be operating in there somewhere, but there are many other factors at play.
I think this goes back to Esquilax's opening post. Free will doesn't mean your choices are unconditional. In Esquilax's opening example, the choice to swim is conditioned upon whether water is present.
No water = no choice to swim
We could go further by saying that the frequency of the choice to swim is conditioned upon the prevalence of water. If there is more water, you will swim more frequently. If there is less water, you will swim less frequently. This doesn't mean that free will doesn't influence each decision to swim or not swim, just as the 1/36 frequency of rolling snake eyes doesn't mean that the laws of physics don't influence each roll of the dice.
Similarly, somebody who is trapped in poverty is more likely to seek wealth through illegitimate means, such as stealing. This doesn't mean they couldn't choose not to steal; it just means the probability of them choosing to steal was conditioned upon their circumstances.
