> > My reluctance to get involved in Yet Another Discussion > > About Free Will is based on a belief in the value of some- > > thing that those trying to get me to become involved seem > > to lack: pragmatism. > > > > One of my favorite quotes in recent years is, "In theory, > > there is no difference between theory and practice. But, > > in practice, there is." That kinda nails my pragmatic > > approach to life, to philosophy, and to the discussion > > of both. Many people try to lure others into arguments > > or discussions that are abstract and purely theoretical, > > as if such discussions had a value other than the mental > > masturbation I see them as having. Me, I like to limit > > myself to discussing things that seem to have an actual > > relationship to a concept I call "real life." > > authfriend: > Actually, the current discussion of free will you're > semi-obliquely referring to involved that very concern: > how does the issue affect "real life"? In fact, both > articles that were cited as a basis for the discussion > were focused on applying the concept that there is no > free will to reforming the justice system. It doesn't > get any more pragmatic than that. > > The pragmatic question has, moreover, been central to > every discussion of free will we've had here. > > <snip> > > My suspicion is that if we were to ask either of these > > "correctors" > > (Specifically, Dan Friedman and Richard Nelson) > And, Richard Williams - I've been correcting Barry on this 'Free Will' topic for over ten years, on FFL and on Usenet. TEN YEARS!!!
How many times do you have to tell Barry read the posts BEFORE he post his comments? According to Buddha, there is causation, but there is no causal agent, for the simple fact that something does not come out of nothing. According to this logic, if there is no causal agent, then there is no creator, only dependent origination. This is basic Buddhism. Subject: Uncaused Cause Author: Willytex Newsgroups: alt.meditation.transcendental Date: December 19, 2001 http://tinyurl.com/4y2bzes Subject: One of four humans, not counting a dwarf! Author: Willytex Newsgroups: alt.meditation.transcendental Date: August 25, 2004 http://tinyurl.com/3k8932y <snip>
