Thanks Marsha, So even an analytical buddhist agrees that "one must" ... attribute free-will to self.
Ian On Wed, Aug 17, 2011 at 8:59 AM, MarshaV <[email protected]> wrote: > > 3.2.2 Role: Agent of actions and thinker of thoughts (autonomy) > > "The sense of boundedness is also brought out through considerations > pertaining to 'the self's' causal efficacy. For most people take themselves > to be autonomous agents in virtue of their assumed causal powers, thus > relating directly to the 'role-occupiers' _thinker of thoughts_, _initiator > of actions_. These roles point to common modes of assumed self-identity. > How, more precisely, do we identify as such thinkers and agents? One way, > already mentioned, is through 'this-ness': the felt value attached to the > idea that _I, this particular self_, as opposed to some other self, am the > agent of certain actions. Another way we construe ourselves to be thinking > agents is through the feeling that our deliberate actions are not the result > of impersonal factors but, rather, of special causal powers pertaining to > free-will. --- _our_ free-will. We feel, in other words, that our choices > are not blindly determined, but that with any deliberate action, we could > have chosen to > do otherwise. The feeling that one is able to exert unique causal powers on > the world through one's own thoughts and actions add weight to the feeling of > _being_ a separate, autonomous entity. Identifying as a (free) thinker and > agent would thus plausibly evoke a sense of boundary between our 'free' > selves and the world with which we interact (including other free agents). > > "But the feelings of freedom do not seem to stop there. Like 'this-ness', > the belief in one's free-will seems to endow those free thoughts and actions > with value. One takes particular pride or shame not only in the apparent > fact that _this_, as opposed _that_ kind of action. It is through this > feeling of freedom that one feel's responsible for one's actions. In the > extensive literature of free-will, it has been noted that anyone who _truly_ > believed there was no real choice in the matter --- that our every action was > determined from birth --- would not fully experience the emotions of pride, > shame, guilt, praise or blame, to name but a few. It seems that for these > emotions to be properly felt, one must, at _some_ level, buy into the > assumption that it is possible to have chosen differently. We do not usually > attribute heartfelt praise or blame to behaviours we perceive as mechanistic > or random (if we do, then it tends to be through unconsciously > anthropomorphising in > animate objects such as stalling cars and red traffic lights!). The > emotional investment in the outcome of one's actions serves to intensify the > sense of boundary between self-as-agent and other (or self-as-thinker and > other). The associated roles, 'thinker of thoughts' and 'initiator of > actions' thus depict distinct and repetitive _modes_ in which we, as > subjects, identify with things (in the capacity of these roles), underscoring > the sense of boundary between self and other. And the associated sense of > boundedness is best evidenced through the value we attach to being, it would > seem, a free author of our actions. > > "The reflections developed in this discussion on both 'this-ness' and > 'autonomy' (introduced by Baron) help to illuminate, from two different > angles, the sense of ontological uniqueness that we have. The sense of being > a uniquely separate _thing_, whether as something special, or as something > autonomous, is strong evidence for our reflexive ascription of boundedness to > the self we assume we are. We can also note its connection with the > long-running debate on free-will, and with the fact that many philosophers, > such as Kant and Frankfurt, have chosen to identify the most central aspect > of our 'selves' with 'the will'." > > (Albahari, Miri, 'Analytical Buddhism: The Two-tiered Illusion of Self > ', pp.96-97) > > > > > > > > > > > ___ > > > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org/md/archives.html > Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org/md/archives.html
