On Sun, 14 Aug 2022 at 18:52, John Clark <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Sat, Aug 13, 2022 at 5:09 PM Stathis Papaioannou <[email protected]> > wrote: > > *> Most modern philosophers are compatibilists, so called because they >> think free will and determinism are compatible. * > > > I think before philosophers start saying what free will is and is not > compatible with they should first explain what the hell they mean by "free > will, but they never do, when asked they just start waving their hands > around speaking gibberish. > That's what I was trying to explain: you act of your own free will if you do what you want to do, you don't act of your own free will if you do something accidentally, or you are forced, or you don't know what you're doing due to a mental illness. There is nothing clever about this, it's the layperson's definition, and most philosophers think it's the only definition that makes sense. Daniel Dennett is an example of a compatibilist philosopher. > > >> *> Compatibilists say that you act freely if you do so according to your >> preferences * > > > There are only 2 possibilities, there is either a reason for my > preference in which case it is mechanical, or there is no reason for my > preference in which case it is by definition un-reasonable and random. > > *> or under abnormal influence such as psychotic illness. * > > > There are only 2 possibilities, there is a reason for that "abnormal" > influence in which case it is mechanical or there is no reason for the > "abnormal" influence in which case it is by definition un-reasonable and > random. > Yes, so you can only act freely if your actions are determined. A little bit of randomness might be OK but if everything you did was random you would die. > > > This is the layperson’s definition of freedom and the definition used >> to establish legal responsibility in court. > > > Yes, and that is why the legal system is such a ridiculous incoherent > mess. There could be no other outcome if something is based on pure > nonsense. > The legal system might be a mess, but at least in principle it's a good idea not to punish people who didn't do it, did it under coercion, or didn't know what they were doing because they were dementing, for example. -- Stathis Papaioannou [image: width=] <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail> Virus-free.www.avast.com <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail> <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> -- 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 view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/everything-list/CAH%3D2ypV-mm67Qfh%2BPPdi8h71t%2B7QN%3DN1X5zUtiGhPF9Yd0qgaw%40mail.gmail.com.
