siiky
2020/12/30
2022/07/27
en
Thoughts on Hard Determinism, as described in Philosophy 101, by Paul Kleinman.
Hard determinism, as described in the book, states that everything is determined by past events. It is not clear from the book if it's meant to be applied only to the physical world, beings' behavior, or both, but it treats only human behavior.
Applied to human behavior, the idea holds that we have no effect in future events, because we cannot do anything other than what we're predetermined to do, essentially meaning that we have no free will.
This doesn't sit right with me. How can we believe to have free will, believe to be able to make a choice, but not actually be able to make a choice? How can it be that when I choose to eat this instead of that, or listen to this song instead of that one, I'm not actually choosing, but it had been predetermined beforehand, since the beginning of time, that I would "choose" so?
As I write this, I wonder if I could have not written it. And, hadn't I written this, had I merely thought of writing and chosen not to, I wonder if I could have actually written it.
It's really depressing to think that we have no saying in the course of our lives; that whatever we think we do to improve them, or whatever luck or misfortune befalls us, happens simply because it must.
All the counter arguments listed on the book base themselves in the fact that making choices constitutes free will, and assume, in some way or another, that we can make choices. This boils down to "hard determinism is false, therefore hard determinism is false".
However, the real problem is, I think, that we don't know if this assumption is right.
On a positive note, this idea implies that, theoretically, one could predict the future after having witnessed the present. This is true, to a certain extent, in the physical world. But what would it mean to be able to know what our "choices" would be in the future? What would happen? On a less positive note, again, it would certainly not be a pleasant experience in certain scenarios, similar to being diagnosed with a terminal disease.
(haven't read this SEP entry yet)