RE: Free will/evil/punishment
June 15, 2015 at 7:44 am
(This post was last modified: June 15, 2015 at 7:45 am by The Grand Nudger.)
(June 14, 2015 at 11:59 pm)bennyboy Wrote:We used to punish witches. The counter idea is that there are no witches.....but I doubt that this "no witches" business is really more than just something people talk about in philosophy forums.(June 14, 2015 at 11:23 pm)Aroura Wrote: Saying they don't really believe it (Like you know what they believe or don't believe, jerk thing to say BTW) is not the same as saying they don't behave as if they do.
I'm sorry if I wasn't clear. To me, the word "seems" is equivalent to saying "behave as though." That's because I don't think being highly judgmental of the behavior of others (kill him, punish him, etc.) accords well with the idea that nobody, including a criminal, has the capacity to do other than he has done. I don't really know people's internal dialogue, ideas, or beliefs. However, based on the incompatibility of the ideas of determinism with ideas about harsh punitive justice (which require free will to make any sense), I think it's reasonably doubt whether the idea of behavioral determinism is really more than just something people talk about in philosophy forums.
I hope my position is clearer now.
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