Free Won't [This Title Was Predetermined] and philosophy. For religious followers, free will is often considered a paradox. If God is all-seeing and

Size: px
Start display at page:

Download "Free Won't [This Title Was Predetermined] and philosophy. For religious followers, free will is often considered a paradox. If God is all-seeing and"

Transcription

1 A. Student Polina Kukar 12U Philosophy Date Free Won't [This Title Was Predetermined] The concept of free will is a matter of intense debate from the perspectives of religion, science, and philosophy. For religious followers, free will is often considered a paradox. If God is all-seeing and all-knowing, has he predetermined the actions of every human being? Philosophers too have struggled with the idea of free will. Aristotle, for example, while accepting that many of our decisions are predictable based on our character and habits, argued that there could be loopholes in the cause and effect chain that allow for the conscious choice of different paths. The Stoics advanced the concept of determinism believing that natural laws control all things, including the mind, arguing that every event in history is connected to a previous event that caused it and an event, in turn, is a preceding cause of what comes after. Neuroscientists have added to the discussion of free will by concluding that it is an illusion, partly because scientists have proven that the brain commits to a decision before a person is consciously aware of a decision being made at all. If free will is a possible concept, it existed only once and will never exist again. For the purposes of this essay, free will is the ability to act and make decisions based on conscious and deliberate choices. Assuming that one accepts that mentally we are able to choose between two options, as individual human beings, we are still controlled by the law of physics and all external laws of nature. Even the fact that we are referring to actions as choices implies that there are a limited number of options to choose from. The brain is the product of evolution, environment and genetics and therefore the structure of the brain undoubtedly determines patterns in choices and actions. Not only are we controlled by the past, but our actions are also greatly influenced by our most basic wants and needs. We strive for health, safety, and smaller goals like respect, recognition, appreciation, and love. I see

2 free will as an inverted triangle, extending from the very beginning of time to the supposed end (within this argument I will assume that time has both a beginning and end). Suppose we have only one human, person A. This person has the largest amount of options a person can possibly have. They are limited by only their environment and their own mind and body. Now suppose person B stumbles into the equation. Both person A and B are now somewhat limited by each other. Their actions will affect and influence one another, thus lessening their options. One could argue that they both have free will, but less of it. Add another person, person C, and the pattern continues. As time goes on, we are more and more affected by decisions made by others-- both in the past and by those around us. Now the point where this scenario gets complicated occurs when we add purpose to the equation. I do not believe in conscious or spiritual purpose. However, actions have consequences. At this point I subscribe to two schools of thought. I believe that everything in the universe either exists as a result of one initial intention, or that everything exists because it is leading up to one final intended result (in relation to the triangle analogy, the omnipotent purpose would either be the cause of the person and environment or the end result at the triangle's tip). A visitor to my philosophy class named Sabchu stated that: I am twenty-nine [years old] because I was twenty-eight before. Yesterday is the cause of today, and the day before that is the cause of yesterday. Although his idea agrees with one of my options, I wondered if the opposite may be equally justifiable. Could he not be just as much twenty-nine due to his being twenty-eight as he is because he will be thirty? Could today not exist because tomorrow will, and not because yesterday already did? One of the most interesting responses to the question of free will was voiced by Baruch Spinoza, born in Amsterdam in1632. Spinoza was an incredibly radical thinker for his time because, while he was Jewish, he was willing to be excommunicated from his community for his refusal to accept the idea of an anthropomorphic God. For Spinoza, a God does exist but it is an abstract and impersonal God. He did not believe in the God of the old testament, but rather that nature is God and that everything follows natural laws (Stanford, 2001). For Spinoza, God is all and all is in God.

3 (Gaarder, 206). Spinoza argued against the concept of free will. Expanding on the writings of Descartes, Spinoza accepted the idea of determinism, arguing that life runs like a clock in that all of the elements of life fit together like gears. If one could stand back and look at the world from afar, from the beginning of time, all actions would be predictable and repeatable and thus not subject to individual choice. If he lived today, Spinoza would probably adopt the idea of man being comparable to a computer. With certain inputs, the outputs would be predictable and obvious down to the most minute details. His main work, Ethics, Geometrically Demonstrated, was representative of the ideas of his time, namely, that mathematics and reason were the window into morality and truth. Spinoza believed that man's desires and hopes block his path to happiness. He felt that acknowledging that the world unfolds from a pre-ordained pattern would allow one to intuit all of nature. If humans accept that all things are connected, they can achieve true contentment (Philosophy and Philosophers, 2012). In Sophie's World, the analogy is made that an apple tree can only produce apples. Similarly, a human being can only be human and that entails living within the limits of humanity. He compares apple trees to humans in that,...if it is an apple tree it will not have the ability to bear pears or plums. The same applies to us humans. (Gaarder, 211). While there are some differences between my views and Spinoza's, they are astonishingly similar. For 2000 years people have been debating the concept of free will. What makes sense to me is that there can't possibly be free will as long as every human is just as much a part of reality as the next. Even recent findings about studies of the brain are pointing to the ideas brought forth by determinists. Spinoza's closed universe concept isn't that different from what scientists are realizing today. There is no such thing as free will because the human mind is determined in its willing by a cause other than itself. God's will, which has no cause other than itself, reveals itself by necessity rather than freedom. (Scott, 2011). This aspect of Spinoza's argument is similar to my main belief. I would say that when there is free will once, there can never be free will again. After an initial free decision, every choice that follows is out of necessity, pertaining to that first decision. Supposing I was created out of free

4 will, all of my motivations in life stem from a set of needs following a set of rules determined by external forces. As Spinoza said, Men believe themselves to be free because they are conscious of their own actions and are ignorant of the causes by which they are determined. (Michaelson, 2012). However safe it may feel to believe that we are free to do whatever we please, there has been no evidence to prove that free will as a concept is even possible. Many of these philosophical questions that have been debated for centuries are fascinating but ultimately without value to our daily lives. It doesn't matter if we have free will or not; we are still going to wake up every day and function within a system that has been foisted upon us. We can't function outside of our society, so how much free will can we possibly have inside of it?

5 Works Cited Baruch Spinoza (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). (2001, June 29). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved November 14, 2012, from Gaarder, J. (1995). Spinoza. Sophie's World (p. 206, 211). London: Phoenix. Spinoza: Ethics Summary. (2012, May 11). Philosophy and Philosophers. Retrieved November 14, 2012, from 2F%2Fwww.the-philosophy.com%2Fethics-spinoza-summary&ei=yiykUKmYN4aW2gXr- ICIBQ&usg=AFQjCNEO-Db-8vz0bxWnf2nvnwIQXSfQ6w Scott, A. (n.d.). Spinoza' Ethics.Angelfire: Welcome to Angelfire. Retrieved November 14, 2012, from Michaelson, J. (n.d.). Free Will: The Last Gasp of the Unenlightened Mind Reality Sandwich. Reality Sandwich Evolving consciousness, bite by bite.. Retrieved November 14, 2012, from

William Meehan Essay on Spinoza s psychology.

William Meehan Essay on Spinoza s psychology. William Meehan wmeehan@wi.edu Essay on Spinoza s psychology. Baruch (Benedictus) Spinoza is best known in the history of psychology for his theory of the emotions and for being the first modern thinker

More information

The Spiritual Is Abstract

The Spiritual Is Abstract The Spiritual Is Abstract A lightly edited transcript of an impromptu talk by Mark F. Sharlow The spiritual is a subset of the abstract. The objects and items that we usually think of as spiritual are,

More information

Que sera sera. Robert Stone

Que sera sera. Robert Stone Que sera sera Robert Stone Before I get down to the main course of this talk, I ll serve up a little hors-d oeuvre, getting a long-held grievance off my chest. It is a given of human experience that things

More information

Now consider a verb - like is pretty. Does this also stand for something?

Now consider a verb - like is pretty. Does this also stand for something? Kripkenstein The rule-following paradox is a paradox about how it is possible for us to mean anything by the words of our language. More precisely, it is an argument which seems to show that it is impossible

More information

Inimitable Human Intelligence and The Truth on Morality. to life, such as 3D projectors and flying cars. In fairy tales, magical spells are cast to

Inimitable Human Intelligence and The Truth on Morality. to life, such as 3D projectors and flying cars. In fairy tales, magical spells are cast to 1 Inimitable Human Intelligence and The Truth on Morality Less than two decades ago, Hollywood films brought unimaginable modern creations to life, such as 3D projectors and flying cars. In fairy tales,

More information

Chalmers, "Consciousness and Its Place in Nature"

Chalmers, Consciousness and Its Place in Nature http://www.protevi.com/john/philmind Classroom use only. Chalmers, "Consciousness and Its Place in Nature" 1. Intro 2. The easy problem and the hard problem 3. The typology a. Reductive Materialism i.

More information

The British Empiricism

The British Empiricism The British Empiricism Locke, Berkeley and Hume copyleft: nicolazuin.2018 nowxhere.wordpress.com The terrible heritage of Descartes: Skepticism, Empiricism, Rationalism The problem originates from the

More information

Ending The Scandal. Hard Determinism Compatibilism. Soft Determinism. Hard Incompatibilism. Semicompatibilism. Illusionism.

Ending The Scandal. Hard Determinism Compatibilism. Soft Determinism. Hard Incompatibilism. Semicompatibilism. Illusionism. 366 Free Will: The Scandal in Philosophy Illusionism Determinism Hard Determinism Compatibilism Soft Determinism Hard Incompatibilism Impossibilism Valerian Model Semicompatibilism Narrow Incompatibilism

More information

AKC Lecture 1 Plato, Penrose, Popper

AKC Lecture 1 Plato, Penrose, Popper AKC Lecture 1 Plato, Penrose, Popper E. Brian Davies King s College London November 2011 E.B. Davies (KCL) AKC 1 November 2011 1 / 26 Introduction The problem with philosophical and religious questions

More information

What should I believe? Only what I have evidence for.

What should I believe? Only what I have evidence for. What should I believe? Only what I have evidence for. We closed last time by considering an objection to Moore s proof of an external world. The objection was that Moore does not know the premises of his

More information

By submitting this essay, I attest that it is my own work, completed in accordance with University regulations. Minh Alexander Nguyen

By submitting this essay, I attest that it is my own work, completed in accordance with University regulations. Minh Alexander Nguyen DRST 004: Directed Studies Philosophy Professor Matthew Noah Smith By submitting this essay, I attest that it is my own work, completed in accordance with University regulations. Minh Alexander Nguyen

More information

The Arguments for Determinism. Herman H. Horne

The Arguments for Determinism. Herman H. Horne The Arguments for Determinism Herman H. Horne Herman Harrell Horne (1874-1946) taught philosophy and education at a number of prominent American universities, and published numerous books and articles.

More information

God: the Next Version. Mark F. Sharlow

God: the Next Version. Mark F. Sharlow Mark F. Sharlow Copyright 2009 Mark F. Sharlow. This is the second version of this document. ii Contents 1. Forget Everything You Know about God 1 2. What God Really Means 4 3. The Creation Mistake 11

More information

The Extended Mind. But, what if the mind is like that? That is, what if the mind extends beyond the brain?

The Extended Mind. But, what if the mind is like that? That is, what if the mind extends beyond the brain? The Extended Mind 1. The Extended Body: We often have no problem accepting that the body can be augmented or extended in certain ways. For instance, it is not so far-fetched to think of someone s prosthetic

More information

Am I free? Freedom vs. Fate

Am I free? Freedom vs. Fate Am I free? Freedom vs. Fate We ve been discussing the free will defense as a response to the argument from evil. This response assumes something about us: that we have free will. But what does this mean?

More information

An Alternate Possibility for the Compatibility of Divine. Foreknowledge and Free Will. Alex Cavender. Ringstad Paper Junior/Senior Division

An Alternate Possibility for the Compatibility of Divine. Foreknowledge and Free Will. Alex Cavender. Ringstad Paper Junior/Senior Division An Alternate Possibility for the Compatibility of Divine Foreknowledge and Free Will Alex Cavender Ringstad Paper Junior/Senior Division 1 An Alternate Possibility for the Compatibility of Divine Foreknowledge

More information

The Platonic tradition and concepts of Freewill

The Platonic tradition and concepts of Freewill The Platonic tradition and concepts of Freewill The existence or otherwise of freewill has been the subject of philosophic exploration for as long as philosophy has existed: and if it exists its nature

More information

24.01 Classics of Western Philosophy

24.01 Classics of Western Philosophy 1 Plan: Kant Lecture #2: How are pure mathematics and pure natural science possible? 1. Review: Problem of Metaphysics 2. Kantian Commitments 3. Pure Mathematics 4. Transcendental Idealism 5. Pure Natural

More information

Incompatibilism (1) Anti Free Will Arguments

Incompatibilism (1) Anti Free Will Arguments Determinism and Free Will (4) Incompatibilism (1) Anti Free Will Arguments Incompatibilism is the view that a deterministic universe is completely at odds with the notion that persons have a free will.

More information

The Philosophy Of Spinoza By Benedict de Spinoza, Joseph Ratner

The Philosophy Of Spinoza By Benedict de Spinoza, Joseph Ratner The Philosophy Of Spinoza By Benedict de Spinoza, Joseph Ratner Entry on Spinoza, with biography and main elements of his philosophical thought. The work does not give Spinoza's own philosophy, but glimpses

More information

How Subjective Fact Ties Language to Reality

How Subjective Fact Ties Language to Reality How Subjective Fact Ties Language to Reality Mark F. Sharlow URL: http://www.eskimo.com/~msharlow ABSTRACT In this note, I point out some implications of the experiential principle* for the nature of the

More information

What we want to know is: why might one adopt this fatalistic attitude in response to reflection on the existence of truths about the future?

What we want to know is: why might one adopt this fatalistic attitude in response to reflection on the existence of truths about the future? Fate and free will From the first person point of view, one of the most obvious, and important, facts about the world is that some things are up to us at least sometimes, we are able to do one thing, and

More information

MY IMPRESSIONS FROM READING PORTIONS OF. William A. Dembski s. "Intelligent Design; The Bridge Between Science & Theology"

MY IMPRESSIONS FROM READING PORTIONS OF. William A. Dembski s. Intelligent Design; The Bridge Between Science & Theology MY IMPRESSIONS FROM READING PORTIONS OF William A. Dembski s "Intelligent Design; The Bridge Between Science & Theology" (InterVarsityPress, Downers Grove, Illinois, 1999) After reading Schroeder I wanted

More information

John Locke Institute 2018 Essay Competition (Philosophy)

John Locke Institute 2018 Essay Competition (Philosophy) John Locke Institute 2018 Essay Competition (Philosophy) Question 1: On 17 December 1903 Orville and Wilbur Wright's plane was airborne for twelve seconds, covering a distance of 36.5 metres. Just seven

More information

The role of ethical judgment based on the supposed right action to perform in a given

The role of ethical judgment based on the supposed right action to perform in a given Applying the Social Contract Theory in Opposing Animal Rights by Stephen C. Sanders Copyright 2016. All rights reserved. The role of ethical judgment based on the supposed right action to perform in a

More information

Determinism defined: Every event has a cause/set of causes; if its cause occurs, then the effect must follow.

Determinism defined: Every event has a cause/set of causes; if its cause occurs, then the effect must follow. Determinism defined: Every event has a cause/set of causes; if its cause occurs, then the effect must follow. In the assigned reading by David Hume, Hume calls determinism the principle of necessity and

More information

Structure and essence: The keys to integrating spirituality and science

Structure and essence: The keys to integrating spirituality and science Structure and essence: The keys to integrating spirituality and science Copyright c 2001 Paul P. Budnik Jr., All rights reserved Our technical capabilities are increasing at an enormous and unprecedented

More information

A History of Western Thought Why We Think the Way We Do. Summer 2016 Ross Arnold

A History of Western Thought Why We Think the Way We Do. Summer 2016 Ross Arnold A History of Western Thought Why We Think the Way We Do Summer 2016 Ross Arnold A History of Western Thought Why We Think the Way We Do Videos of lectures available at: www.litchapala.org under 8-Week

More information

MITOCW watch?v=ppqrukmvnas

MITOCW watch?v=ppqrukmvnas MITOCW watch?v=ppqrukmvnas The following content is provided under a Creative Commons license. Your support will help MIT OpenCourseWare continue to offer high quality educational resources for free. To

More information

According to Russell, do we know the self by acquaintance? (hint: the answer is not yes )

According to Russell, do we know the self by acquaintance? (hint: the answer is not yes ) Russell KNOWLEDGE BY ACQUAINTANCE AND KNOWLEDGE BY DESCRIPTION Russell asserts that there are three types of things that we know by acquaintance. The first is sense-data. Another is universals. What are

More information

Fr. Copleston vs. Bertrand Russell: The Famous 1948 BBC Radio Debate on the Existence of God

Fr. Copleston vs. Bertrand Russell: The Famous 1948 BBC Radio Debate on the Existence of God Fr. Copleston vs. Bertrand Russell: The Famous 1948 BBC Radio Debate on the Existence of God Father Frederick C. Copleston (Jesuit Catholic priest) versus Bertrand Russell (agnostic philosopher) Copleston:

More information

Causation and Free Will

Causation and Free Will Causation and Free Will T L Hurst Revised: 17th August 2011 Abstract This paper looks at the main philosophic positions on free will. It suggests that the arguments for causal determinism being compatible

More information

René Descartes ( ) PSY 3360 / CGS 3325 Historical Perspectives on Psychology Minds and Machines since Descartes

René Descartes ( ) PSY 3360 / CGS 3325 Historical Perspectives on Psychology Minds and Machines since Descartes PSY 3360 / CGS 3325 Historical Perspectives on Psychology Minds and Machines since 1600 René Descartes (1596-1650) Dr. Peter Assmann Spring 2018 French mathematician, philosopher, and physiologist Descartes

More information

Can A Priori Justified Belief Be Extended Through Deduction? It is often assumed that if one deduces some proposition p from some premises

Can A Priori Justified Belief Be Extended Through Deduction? It is often assumed that if one deduces some proposition p from some premises Can A Priori Justified Belief Be Extended Through Deduction? Introduction It is often assumed that if one deduces some proposition p from some premises which one knows a priori, in a series of individually

More information

A Priori Bootstrapping

A Priori Bootstrapping A Priori Bootstrapping Ralph Wedgwood In this essay, I shall explore the problems that are raised by a certain traditional sceptical paradox. My conclusion, at the end of this essay, will be that the most

More information

Sufficient Reason and Infinite Regress: Causal Consistency in Descartes and Spinoza. Ryan Steed

Sufficient Reason and Infinite Regress: Causal Consistency in Descartes and Spinoza. Ryan Steed Sufficient Reason and Infinite Regress: Causal Consistency in Descartes and Spinoza Ryan Steed PHIL 2112 Professor Rebecca Car October 15, 2018 Steed 2 While both Baruch Spinoza and René Descartes espouse

More information

March 05, 2016 from WakingTimes Website

March 05, 2016 from WakingTimes Website March 05, 2016 from WakingTimes Website We are in this physical world, but we are not from this world. It is important to understand that there is an evolution of Souls going on through the earthly experience,

More information

Hume s An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding

Hume s An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding Hume s An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding G. J. Mattey Spring, 2017 / Philosophy 1 After Descartes The greatest success of the philosophy of Descartes was that it helped pave the way for the mathematical

More information

Class #3 - Illusion Descartes, from Meditations on First Philosophy Descartes, The Story of the Wax Descartes, The Story of the Sun

Class #3 - Illusion Descartes, from Meditations on First Philosophy Descartes, The Story of the Wax Descartes, The Story of the Sun Philosophy 110W: Introduction to Philosophy Fall 2014 Hamilton College Russell Marcus Class #3 - Illusion Descartes, from Meditations on First Philosophy Descartes, The Story of the Wax Descartes, The

More information

Kripke s skeptical paradox

Kripke s skeptical paradox Kripke s skeptical paradox phil 93914 Jeff Speaks March 13, 2008 1 The paradox.................................... 1 2 Proposed solutions to the paradox....................... 3 2.1 Meaning as determined

More information

Skepticism is True. Abraham Meidan

Skepticism is True. Abraham Meidan Skepticism is True Abraham Meidan Skepticism is True Copyright 2004 Abraham Meidan All rights reserved. Universal Publishers Boca Raton, Florida USA 2004 ISBN: 1-58112-504-6 www.universal-publishers.com

More information

Philo 101 Online Hunter College Fall 2017

Philo 101 Online Hunter College Fall 2017 Philo 101 Online Hunter College Fall 2017 Daniel W. Harris 1 The Structure of Our Knowledge One of the central questions of epistemology deals with the issue of how our knowledge is structured. To ask

More information

Think by Simon Blackburn. Chapter 4b Free Will/Self

Think by Simon Blackburn. Chapter 4b Free Will/Self Think by Simon Blackburn Chapter 4b Free Will/Self The unobservability of the self David Hume, the Scottish empiricist we met in connection with his critique of Descartes method of doubt, is very skeptical

More information

Final Paper. May 13, 2015

Final Paper. May 13, 2015 24.221 Final Paper May 13, 2015 Determinism states the following: given the state of the universe at time t 0, denoted S 0, and the conjunction of the laws of nature, L, the state of the universe S at

More information

SUPPORT MATERIAL FOR 'DETERMINISM AND FREE WILL ' (UNIT 2 TOPIC 5)

SUPPORT MATERIAL FOR 'DETERMINISM AND FREE WILL ' (UNIT 2 TOPIC 5) SUPPORT MATERIAL FOR 'DETERMINISM AND FREE WILL ' (UNIT 2 TOPIC 5) Introduction We often say things like 'I couldn't resist buying those trainers'. In saying this, we presumably mean that the desire to

More information

BIG IDEAS OVERVIEW FOR AGE GROUPS

BIG IDEAS OVERVIEW FOR AGE GROUPS BIG IDEAS OVERVIEW FOR AGE GROUPS Barbara Wintersgill and University of Exeter 2017. Permission is granted to use this copyright work for any purpose, provided that users give appropriate credit to the

More information

What Is the Thingy Illusion and How Does It Mess Up Philosophy?

What Is the Thingy Illusion and How Does It Mess Up Philosophy? What Is the Thingy Illusion and How Does It Mess Up Philosophy? Mark F. Sharlow The following is a transcript of an impromptu talk. The transcript has been edited and references have been added. There's

More information

THE TWO-DIMENSIONAL ARGUMENT AGAINST MATERIALISM AND ITS SEMANTIC PREMISE

THE TWO-DIMENSIONAL ARGUMENT AGAINST MATERIALISM AND ITS SEMANTIC PREMISE Diametros nr 29 (wrzesień 2011): 80-92 THE TWO-DIMENSIONAL ARGUMENT AGAINST MATERIALISM AND ITS SEMANTIC PREMISE Karol Polcyn 1. PRELIMINARIES Chalmers articulates his argument in terms of two-dimensional

More information

A Posteriori Necessities

A Posteriori Necessities A Posteriori Necessities 1. Introduction: Recall that we distinguished between a priori knowledge and a posteriori knowledge: A Priori Knowledge: Knowledge acquirable prior to experience; for instance,

More information

New Chapter: Epistemology: The Theory and Nature of Knowledge

New Chapter: Epistemology: The Theory and Nature of Knowledge Intro to Philosophy Phil 110 Lecture 12: 2-15 Daniel Kelly I. Mechanics A. Upcoming Readings 1. Today we ll discuss a. Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy (full.pdf) 2. Next week a. Locke, An Essay

More information

PHILOSOPHY OF KNOWLEDGE & REALITY W E E K 3 : N A T U R E O F R E A L I T Y

PHILOSOPHY OF KNOWLEDGE & REALITY W E E K 3 : N A T U R E O F R E A L I T Y PHILOSOPHY OF KNOWLEDGE & REALITY W E E K 3 : N A T U R E O F R E A L I T Y AGENDA 1. Review of Personal Identity 2. The Stuff of Reality 3. Materialistic/Physicalism 4. Immaterial/Idealism PERSONAL IDENTITY

More information

III Knowledge is true belief based on argument. Plato, Theaetetus, 201 c-d Is Justified True Belief Knowledge? Edmund Gettier

III Knowledge is true belief based on argument. Plato, Theaetetus, 201 c-d Is Justified True Belief Knowledge? Edmund Gettier III Knowledge is true belief based on argument. Plato, Theaetetus, 201 c-d Is Justified True Belief Knowledge? Edmund Gettier In Theaetetus Plato introduced the definition of knowledge which is often translated

More information

The Ontological Argument for the existence of God. Pedro M. Guimarães Ferreira S.J. PUC-Rio Boston College, July 13th. 2011

The Ontological Argument for the existence of God. Pedro M. Guimarães Ferreira S.J. PUC-Rio Boston College, July 13th. 2011 The Ontological Argument for the existence of God Pedro M. Guimarães Ferreira S.J. PUC-Rio Boston College, July 13th. 2011 The ontological argument (henceforth, O.A.) for the existence of God has a long

More information

LEIBNITZ. Monadology

LEIBNITZ. Monadology LEIBNITZ Explain and discuss Leibnitz s Theory of Monads. Discuss Leibnitz s Theory of Monads. How are the Monads related to each other? What does Leibnitz understand by monad? Explain his theory of monadology.

More information

THE POWER OF HABIT-CHARLES DUHIGG

THE POWER OF HABIT-CHARLES DUHIGG THE POWER OF HABIT-CHARLES DUHIGG This book abstract is intended to provide just a glimpse of this wonderful book with the hope that you may like to read the original book at leisure and enjoy its real

More information

THE EVOLUTION OF ABSTRACT INTELLIGENCE alexis dolgorukii 1998

THE EVOLUTION OF ABSTRACT INTELLIGENCE alexis dolgorukii 1998 THE EVOLUTION OF ABSTRACT INTELLIGENCE alexis dolgorukii 1998 In the past few years this is the subject about which I have been asked the most questions. This is true because it is the subject about which

More information

Again, the reproductive context has received a lot more attention than the context of the environment and climate change to which I now turn.

Again, the reproductive context has received a lot more attention than the context of the environment and climate change to which I now turn. The ethical issues concerning climate change are very often framed in terms of harm: so people say that our acts (and omissions) affect the environment in ways that will cause severe harm to future generations,

More information

Philosophy Courses Fall 2016

Philosophy Courses Fall 2016 Philosophy Courses Fall 2016 All 100 and 200-level philosophy courses satisfy the Humanities requirement -- except 120, 198, and 298. We offer both a major and a minor in philosophy plus a concentration

More information

Lecture 7.1 Berkeley I

Lecture 7.1 Berkeley I TOPIC: Lecture 7.1 Berkeley I Introduction to the Representational view of the mind. Berkeley s Argument from Illusion. KEY TERMS/ GOALS: Idealism. Naive realism. Representations. Berkeley s Argument from

More information

A Brief History of Thinking about Thinking Thomas Lombardo

A Brief History of Thinking about Thinking Thomas Lombardo A Brief History of Thinking about Thinking Thomas Lombardo "Education is nothing more nor less than learning to think." Peter Facione In this article I review the historical evolution of principles and

More information

Justice and Ethics. Jimmy Rising. October 3, 2002

Justice and Ethics. Jimmy Rising. October 3, 2002 Justice and Ethics Jimmy Rising October 3, 2002 There are three points of confusion on the distinction between ethics and justice in John Stuart Mill s essay On the Liberty of Thought and Discussion, from

More information

Free Will and Determinism

Free Will and Determinism Free Will and Determinism Welcome to A2 Ethics. The first topic we will be studying is Free Will and Determinism and the key questions are, are we free and how do you know and should we be held morally

More information

PDF Rimshot - chayaasianbistroannapolis.com - and Philosophy of the Bible: How Science and Great Thinkers in History Join Theology to Show That God

PDF Rimshot - chayaasianbistroannapolis.com - and Philosophy of the Bible: How Science and Great Thinkers in History Join Theology to Show That God The Physics And Philosophy Of The Bible: How Science And Great Thinkers In History Join Theology To Show That God Exists And That We Can Live Forever (The Inevitable Truth) (Volume 1) By James Frederick

More information

Do we have knowledge of the external world?

Do we have knowledge of the external world? Do we have knowledge of the external world? This book discusses the skeptical arguments presented in Descartes' Meditations 1 and 2, as well as how Descartes attempts to refute skepticism by building our

More information

To be able to define human nature and psychological egoism. To explain how our views of human nature influence our relationships with other

To be able to define human nature and psychological egoism. To explain how our views of human nature influence our relationships with other Velasquez, Philosophy TRACK 1: CHAPTER REVIEW CHAPTER 2: Human Nature 2.1: Why Does Your View of Human Nature Matter? Learning objectives: To be able to define human nature and psychological egoism To

More information

How Much a Quarter Cost: Allegory of a Coin and Other Stories

How Much a Quarter Cost: Allegory of a Coin and Other Stories The Downtown Review Volume 2 Issue 1 Article 5 2016 How Much a Quarter Cost: Allegory of a Coin and Other Stories Grant C. Gallo Cleveland State University How does access to this work benefit you? Let

More information

In his pithy pamphlet Free Will, Sam Harris. Defining free will away EDDY NAHMIAS ISN T ASKING FOR THE IMPOSSIBLE. reviews/harris

In his pithy pamphlet Free Will, Sam Harris. Defining free will away EDDY NAHMIAS ISN T ASKING FOR THE IMPOSSIBLE. reviews/harris Defining free will away EDDY NAHMIAS ISN T ASKING FOR THE IMPOSSIBLE Free Will by Sam Harris (The Free Press),. /$. 110 In his pithy pamphlet Free Will, Sam Harris explains why he thinks free will is an

More information

Kant Lecture 4 Review Synthetic a priori knowledge

Kant Lecture 4 Review Synthetic a priori knowledge Kant Lecture 4 Review Synthetic a priori knowledge Statements involving necessity or strict universality could never be known on the basis of sense experience, and are thus known (if known at all) a priori.

More information

How to Generate a Thesis Statement if the Topic is Not Assigned.

How to Generate a Thesis Statement if the Topic is Not Assigned. What is a Thesis Statement? Almost all of us--even if we don't do it consciously--look early in an essay for a one- or two-sentence condensation of the argument or analysis that is to follow. We refer

More information

Computational Metaphysics

Computational Metaphysics Computational Metaphysics John Rushby Computer Science Laboratory SRI International Menlo Park CA USA John Rushby, SR I Computational Metaphysics 1 Metaphysics The word comes from Andronicus of Rhodes,

More information

BEGINNINGLESS PAST AND ENDLESS FUTURE: REPLY TO CRAIG. Wes Morriston. In a recent paper, I claimed that if a familiar line of argument against

BEGINNINGLESS PAST AND ENDLESS FUTURE: REPLY TO CRAIG. Wes Morriston. In a recent paper, I claimed that if a familiar line of argument against Forthcoming in Faith and Philosophy BEGINNINGLESS PAST AND ENDLESS FUTURE: REPLY TO CRAIG Wes Morriston In a recent paper, I claimed that if a familiar line of argument against the possibility of a beginningless

More information

IN THIS PAPER I will examine and criticize the arguments David

IN THIS PAPER I will examine and criticize the arguments David A MATERIALIST RESPONSE TO DAVID CHALMERS THE CONSCIOUS MIND PAUL RAYMORE Stanford University IN THIS PAPER I will examine and criticize the arguments David Chalmers gives for rejecting a materialistic

More information

Reading Questions for Phil , Fall 2016 (Daniel)

Reading Questions for Phil , Fall 2016 (Daniel) Reading Questions for Phil 251.501, Fall 2016 (Daniel) Class One (Aug. 30): Philosophy Up to Plato (SW 3-78) 1. What does it mean to say that philosophy replaces myth as an explanatory device starting

More information

HUME'S THEORY. THE question which I am about to discuss is this. Under what circumstances

HUME'S THEORY. THE question which I am about to discuss is this. Under what circumstances Chapter V HUME'S THEORY THE question which I am about to discuss is this. Under what circumstances (if any) does a man, when he believes a proposition, not merely believe it but also absolutely know that

More information

Existentialism. And the Absurd

Existentialism. And the Absurd Existentialism And the Absurd A human being is absolutely free and absolutely responsible. Anguish is the result. Jean-Paul Sartre Existentialists are concerned with ontology, which is the study of being.

More information

1/8. Reid on Common Sense

1/8. Reid on Common Sense 1/8 Reid on Common Sense Thomas Reid s work An Inquiry into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense is self-consciously written in opposition to a lot of the principles that animated early modern

More information

A Scientific Model Explains Spirituality and Nonduality

A Scientific Model Explains Spirituality and Nonduality A Scientific Model Explains Spirituality and Nonduality Frank Heile, Ph.D. Physics degrees from Stanford and MIT frank@spiritualityexplained.com www.spiritualityexplained.com Science and Nonduality Conference

More information

prohibition, moral commitment and other normative matters. Although often described as a branch

prohibition, moral commitment and other normative matters. Although often described as a branch Logic, deontic. The study of principles of reasoning pertaining to obligation, permission, prohibition, moral commitment and other normative matters. Although often described as a branch of logic, deontic

More information

Jerry Coyne s Illusions

Jerry Coyne s Illusions Jerry Coyne s Illusions Dr. Ray Bohlin critiques evolutionary biologist Jerry Coyne s materialistic claim that our brain is only a meat computer. Jerry Coyne Says Science Proves We Make No Real Choices

More information

Some Background on Jonas

Some Background on Jonas Hans Jonas (1903-1993) German-American (or, arguably, German-Canadian) )philosopher, p typically y identified (e.g., by Mitcham and Nissenbaum) with a continental approach to ethics and technology I.e.,

More information

! Jumping ahead 2000 years:! Consider the theory of the self.! What am I? What certain knowledge do I have?! Key figure: René Descartes.

! Jumping ahead 2000 years:! Consider the theory of the self.! What am I? What certain knowledge do I have?! Key figure: René Descartes. ! Jumping ahead 2000 years:! Consider the theory of the self.! What am I? What certain knowledge do I have?! What is the relation between that knowledge and that given in the sciences?! Key figure: René

More information

FAITH & reason. The Pope and Evolution Anthony Andres. Winter 2001 Vol. XXVI, No. 4

FAITH & reason. The Pope and Evolution Anthony Andres. Winter 2001 Vol. XXVI, No. 4 FAITH & reason The Journal of Christendom College Winter 2001 Vol. XXVI, No. 4 The Pope and Evolution Anthony Andres ope John Paul II, in a speech given on October 22, 1996 to the Pontifical Academy of

More information

Locke s and Hume s Theories of Personhood: Similarities and Differences. In this paper I will deal with the theories of personhood formulated by

Locke s and Hume s Theories of Personhood: Similarities and Differences. In this paper I will deal with the theories of personhood formulated by Student 1 Student s Name Instructor s Name Course 20 April 2011 Locke s and Hume s Theories of Personhood: Similarities and Differences In this paper I will deal with the theories of personhood formulated

More information

PHILOSOPHY OF KNOWLEDGE & REALITY W E E K 3 D A Y 2 : I M M A T E R I A L I S M, D U A L I S M, & T H E M I N D - B O D Y P R O B L E M

PHILOSOPHY OF KNOWLEDGE & REALITY W E E K 3 D A Y 2 : I M M A T E R I A L I S M, D U A L I S M, & T H E M I N D - B O D Y P R O B L E M PHILOSOPHY OF KNOWLEDGE & REALITY W E E K 3 D A Y 2 : I M M A T E R I A L I S M, D U A L I S M, & T H E M I N D - B O D Y P R O B L E M AGENDA 1. Quick Review 2. Arguments Against Materialism/Physicalism

More information

NOTES ON WILLIAMSON: CHAPTER 11 ASSERTION Constitutive Rules

NOTES ON WILLIAMSON: CHAPTER 11 ASSERTION Constitutive Rules NOTES ON WILLIAMSON: CHAPTER 11 ASSERTION 11.1 Constitutive Rules Chapter 11 is not a general scrutiny of all of the norms governing assertion. Assertions may be subject to many different norms. Some norms

More information

Knowledge and Freedom Spinoza, The Ethics. Class 8- Feb 10 th Elizabeth Amster Alex Orlov

Knowledge and Freedom Spinoza, The Ethics. Class 8- Feb 10 th Elizabeth Amster Alex Orlov Knowledge and Freedom Spinoza, The Ethics Class 8- Feb 10 th Elizabeth Amster Alex Orlov UNIVERSE A (predetermined Everything that happens is caused by whatever happened before it. This is true from the

More information

Philosophy of Religion 21: (1987).,, 9 Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht - Printed in the Nethenanas

Philosophy of Religion 21: (1987).,, 9 Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht - Printed in the Nethenanas Philosophy of Religion 21:161-169 (1987).,, 9 Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht - Printed in the Nethenanas A defense of middle knowledge RICHARD OTTE Cowell College, University of Calfiornia, Santa Cruz,

More information

The Goodness of God in the Judaeo-Christian Tradition

The Goodness of God in the Judaeo-Christian Tradition The Goodness of God in the Judaeo-Christian Tradition (Please note: These are rough notes for a lecture, mostly taken from the relevant sections of Philosophy and Ethics and other publications and should

More information

The Wisdom Of Life And Counsels And Maxims (Great Books In Philosophy) By T. Bailey Saunders, Arthur Schopenhauer READ ONLINE

The Wisdom Of Life And Counsels And Maxims (Great Books In Philosophy) By T. Bailey Saunders, Arthur Schopenhauer READ ONLINE The Wisdom Of Life And Counsels And Maxims (Great Books In Philosophy) By T. Bailey Saunders, Arthur Schopenhauer READ ONLINE Most of the books by and about Schopenhauer and Allen listed below can be Wisdom

More information

6.041SC Probabilistic Systems Analysis and Applied Probability, Fall 2013 Transcript Lecture 3

6.041SC Probabilistic Systems Analysis and Applied Probability, Fall 2013 Transcript Lecture 3 6.041SC Probabilistic Systems Analysis and Applied Probability, Fall 2013 Transcript Lecture 3 The following content is provided under a Creative Commons license. Your support will help MIT OpenCourseWare

More information

Stem Cell Research on Embryonic Persons is Just

Stem Cell Research on Embryonic Persons is Just Stem Cell Research on Embryonic Persons is Just Abstract: I argue that embryonic stem cell research is fair to the embryo even on the assumption that the embryo has attained full personhood and an attendant

More information

Hume s Missing Shade of Blue as a Possible Key. to Certainty in Geometry

Hume s Missing Shade of Blue as a Possible Key. to Certainty in Geometry Hume s Missing Shade of Blue as a Possible Key to Certainty in Geometry Brian S. Derickson PH 506: Epistemology 10 November 2015 David Hume s epistemology is a radical form of empiricism. It states that

More information

Q&A with John Protevi, author of Political Affect: Connecting the Social and the Somatic.

Q&A with John Protevi, author of Political Affect: Connecting the Social and the Somatic. UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA PRESS 1 Q&A with John Protevi, author of Political Affect: Connecting the Social and the Somatic. Q: Political Affect looks at three case studies: the Terri Schiavo case, the Columbine

More information

In this paper I offer an account of Christine Korsgaard s metaethical

In this paper I offer an account of Christine Korsgaard s metaethical Aporia vol. 26 no. 1 2016 Contingency in Korsgaard s Metaethics: Obligating the Moral and Radical Skeptic Calvin Baker Introduction In this paper I offer an account of Christine Korsgaard s metaethical

More information

Merricks on the existence of human organisms

Merricks on the existence of human organisms Merricks on the existence of human organisms Cian Dorr August 24, 2002 Merricks s Overdetermination Argument against the existence of baseballs depends essentially on the following premise: BB Whenever

More information

The Problem of the External World

The Problem of the External World The Problem of the External World External World Skepticism Consider this painting by Rene Magritte: Is there a tree outside? External World Skepticism Many people have thought that humans are like this

More information

Why Computers are not Intelligent: An Argument. Richard Oxenberg

Why Computers are not Intelligent: An Argument. Richard Oxenberg 1 Why Computers are not Intelligent: An Argument Richard Oxenberg I. Two Positions The strong AI advocate who wants to defend the position that the human mind is like a computer often waffles between two

More information

Do you have a self? Who (what) are you? PHL 221, York College Revised, Spring 2014

Do you have a self? Who (what) are you? PHL 221, York College Revised, Spring 2014 Do you have a self? Who (what) are you? PHL 221, York College Revised, Spring 2014 Origins of the concept of self What makes it move? Pneuma ( wind ) and Psyche ( breath ) life-force What is beyond-the-physical?

More information

Teleological: telos ( end, goal ) What is the telos of human action? What s wrong with living for pleasure? For power and public reputation?

Teleological: telos ( end, goal ) What is the telos of human action? What s wrong with living for pleasure? For power and public reputation? 1. Do you have a self? Who (what) are you? PHL 221, York College Revised, Spring 2014 2. Origins of the concept of self What makes it move? Pneuma ( wind ) and Psyche ( breath ) life-force What is beyond-the-physical?

More information