Comment by [deleted] on 22/08/2024 at 12:05 UTC

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View submission: The irony of determinism

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Comment by diogenesthehopeful at 22/08/2024 at 13:28 UTC

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Without causality there can be no free will, as you cannot cause your own decisions.

Totally agree, However a counterfactual can still cause something to happen whereas only a fact can determine something because a determination is a cause plus a confirmation. The counterfactual hasn't been confirmed so a speeding bus can cause me to jump out of the way. The fact that it is speeding isn't want causes me to jump because I can watch buses speed down highways all day and I never budge. What literally causes me to jump is the counterfactual that I might get run over and killed by a bus. Counterfactuals do in fact cause things to happen but they don't determine what happens.

Causality and determinism are not the same. If you think that they are then you don't understand what Hume brought to the table or why it matters.