On 15 May 2015 at 12:52, Stathis Papaioannou <[email protected]> wrote:
> On 14 May 2015 at 09:40, LizR <[email protected]> wrote: > > On 14 May 2015 at 05:46, John Clark <[email protected]> wrote: > >> > >> > >> The only other meaning of "free will" that I know of that isn't > gibberish > >> is the inability to always know what we will do next before we do it > even in > >> an unchanging environment, but almost nobody uses that meaning so all > that > >> remains is the sound that chunks of meat make when they flap together. > > > > > > I agree with you on this one. FW as the inability to know what someone > will > > do next (including yourself) seems the only meaningful definition. In > fact > > the suggestion that it has some greater meaning leads to the idea that > > someone born poor, who is as a result uneducated and can only get menial > > jobs (say) is somehow "responsible" for their position in society because > > they've "failed" in some way, and they are then blamed (particularly by > > people of a right wing persuasion) for something theyhad no control over. > > > > So it's actually a dangerous notion politically, and not just > > philosophically meaningless. > > No-one's ever to blame for anything. If they did it because that's the > way their brain is it's not their fault, and if they did it due to > irreducible randomness it's not their fault. However, punishment and > reward can be used to guide behaviour in desirable directions, whether > it is driven by determinism or randomness. > True. As can social reform. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
