2 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: A question for Objectivists
Does nutrition impact human development? Yes.
How do I and Objectivism rectify this with free will and causes? There isn’t anything to rectify. The emergence of free will is not causeless.
Is it compelling that behaviour can be impacted by things? Compelling about what? Does Objectivism say anywhere that behavior can’t be impacted by other things?
Comment by Unhappy-Land-3534 at 08/03/2025 at 02:57 UTC
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
The emergence of free will is not causeless.
But isn't free will the ability to act independent of causality? The idea that you make your own decisions. That you are not simply responding causally to material conditions?
That's my question. At what point does the emergence of free will happen? It seems to be some degree of intelligence?
So does free will increase with increasing intelligence? If so, then the attribute of having free will doesn't seem to be itself a product of free will.
Does Objectivism anywhere that behavior can’t be impacted by other things?
If I'm hungry and decide to eat is that the "free will" that objectivism describes? Or is it purely voluntary actions.
I think I'd find the argument of free will more compelling if it was strictly voluntary actions. But it needs to be strict. Eating because you are hungry is not voluntary, saving a drowning child because of instinctual emotions is not voluntary. It's an impulse derived from a material reaction in your body to stressors.
Voluntary would be thinking about doing something, having literally no incentive, need, or impulse to do it, and deciding to do it anyway based on a logical conclusion: Voluntarily. Is that correct?