(May 12, 2010 at 4:58 pm)Caecilian Wrote: Personally, I'm a compatibilist re. free will/ determinism. This is the third philosophical option, libertarian free will and determinism being the other two. As the name suggests, compatibilists argue that there is no contradiction between free will and determinism.
According to compatibilism, 'free will' is not about causation at all. Its about responsibility for and ownership of actions. If I say that I did X of my own free will, then what I'm saying is that my actions were due to me (my history, beliefs, desires etc), and were authentically mine. If I do X because someone is pointing a gun at my head, then I'm doing it because of external coercion, and not because of reasons that are mine- thus not of my own free will. By contrast, if I do X because I had a bad childhood (part of my personal history), then I am doing it of my own free will.
could you not will yourself to not do as the gun holder demands? determinism, from my understanding, is about something greater than mere coercion. it's like a line of dominoes -- either it is or it isn't. the results of you doing X would all be determined by your taking that action. and really, everything you do after that could be considered the result of the action (ex. because you did X, you miss the bus which causes you to get home late which causes an argument with your partner which causes you to get to bed later than planned which gives you a bad dream which gives you bad sleep which makes you grumpy at work the next day which blahblahblah...two weeks later you stub your toe and you can trace every movement leading up to that to action X). so the gun to your head determining your action kills the idea of free will. the only form of "compatibilism" that makes sense to me is an illusion of free will that is actually all determined.
i think cause and effect can and do exist with free will. but i don't think determinism and free will coexist.
personally, i tend to lean toward the existence of free will. though i'd be able to shed so many insecurities and anxieties living a determined existence.
