(September 30, 2013 at 3:06 am)bennyboy Wrote: At the time of access, it ceases to be passive. The neurons which encode the data fire up, send signals to other parts of the brain, and affect behavior. That's a process.
Yes, a process of accessing data. The data itself doesn't magically turn into a process.
(September 30, 2013 at 3:06 am)bennyboy Wrote: I'm not talking about the mores of the judges. I'm talking about the immoral behavior of the person being judged. We don't care what evil ideas he holds-- so long as he shits once a day, eats three times a day, sleeps normal hours, and goes to church on Sunday, he's a swell guy. We don't care HOW he arrives at his good behavior-- so long as he doesn't start raping kids, killing moms, or voting Democrat.
You are talking about our mores. In this context, we are the judges who judge when to start caring. That person is being judged by our abstract principles.
(September 30, 2013 at 3:06 am)bennyboy Wrote: Why would you give that that set of principles is not inevitable for the person? At what point in the person's life, in a deterministic view, did he have a chance to learn other than he learned, feel other than he felt, and form other than the ideas he has formed?
When he went to school, to college, interacted with friends, read a newspaper, read a book or even read a fortune cookie. Everyday in your life you are exposed to new and different ideas. That the choice of whether you integrate those ideas is determined by who you are does not mean that a choice wasn't made.
(September 30, 2013 at 3:06 am)bennyboy Wrote: This is special pleading: "Everything follows from a deterministic interaction between particles in the universe. Except that serial killing bastard-- HE has to fry, because he should have (magically) caused himself to turn out other than he did."
On the contrary, this applies to any and all agents. That is the nature of agency.
(September 30, 2013 at 3:06 am)bennyboy Wrote: You are desperately hanging onto the concept of free will, while you insist on a model of the universe with which it is incompatible.
Which brings us back to the original point. Since I don't mean the same thing by free-will as you do, I don't regard it as incompatible with my model of universe.
