Difference between revisions of "User:Woozle/Free Will"
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Tentatively, there are two main usages of the term, which I'll refer to as '''academic''' (FW!aca) and '''lay''' (FW!lay). | Tentatively, there are two main usages of the term, which I'll refer to as '''academic''' (FW!aca) and '''lay''' (FW!lay). | ||
| − | However vague Harris may be about exactly what he thinks "free will" ''is'' (even as he argues that it doesn't really exist), it does seem clear that he is talking about it in the sense that most people understand it (FW!lay): the idea that we make choices to optimize our own experience, and that sometimes we need to set up deterrents in order to prevent people from acting in ways that benefit themselves while harming others. (I have attempted to more precisely define this concept [[free will|here]].) | + | However vague Harris may be about exactly what he thinks "free will" ''is'' (even as he argues that it doesn't really exist), it does seem clear that he is talking about it in the sense that most people understand it (FW!lay): the idea that we make choices to optimize our own experience, and that sometimes we need to set up deterrents* in order to prevent people from acting in ways that benefit themselves while harming others. (I have attempted to more precisely define this concept [[free will|here]].) |
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| + | (* actually, it's not clear that this is why he thinks FW!lay calls for "punishment"; investigating this further.) | ||
From all the clues Harris has left scattered through his book, here is what we know about FW!SH (my understanding of the assertions contained within each quote is written in boldface): | From all the clues Harris has left scattered through his book, here is what we know about FW!SH (my understanding of the assertions contained within each quote is written in boldface): | ||
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** '''Free will is required in order for people to be something other than clockwork.''' | ** '''Free will is required in order for people to be something other than clockwork.''' | ||
| − | ** '''Free will is required in order for punishment to be an effective deterrent.''' | + | ** '''Free will is required in order for punishment to be <s>an effective deterrent</s> necessary in some way ''other than'' as deterrent, rehabilitation, or containment.''' |
** '''Free will is required in order for individuals to deserve the fruits of their efforts in any meaningful way.''' | ** '''Free will is required in order for individuals to deserve the fruits of their efforts in any meaningful way.''' | ||
* <cite title="page 16, 4th-to-last paragraph">"Thoughts and intentions emerge from background causes of which we are unaware and over which we exert no conscious control."</cite> | * <cite title="page 16, 4th-to-last paragraph">"Thoughts and intentions emerge from background causes of which we are unaware and over which we exert no conscious control."</cite> | ||
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* <cite title="page 21">"Consider what it would take to actually have free will. You would need to be aware of all the factors that determine your thoughts and actions, and you would need to have complete control over those factors."</cite> | * <cite title="page 21">"Consider what it would take to actually have free will. You would need to be aware of all the factors that determine your thoughts and actions, and you would need to have complete control over those factors."</cite> | ||
** '''Free will requires not just conscious awareness of our decisionmaking process, but conscious awareness of every detail of that process.''' | ** '''Free will requires not just conscious awareness of our decisionmaking process, but conscious awareness of every detail of that process.''' | ||
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| + | (Note: I'm unclear what use he thinks punishment is within FW!lay if it's not as a deterrent.) | ||
===awareness of decisionmaking=== | ===awareness of decisionmaking=== | ||
One argument Harris returns to repeatedly is the idea that if we are not aware of ''every detail'' of the process by which we make a decision, then we are not truly the author of that decision. The decision was made by the atoms, chemical processes, and neurons that our brains are made of, and which science has demonstrated pretty conclusively to be "all we are". | One argument Harris returns to repeatedly is the idea that if we are not aware of ''every detail'' of the process by which we make a decision, then we are not truly the author of that decision. The decision was made by the atoms, chemical processes, and neurons that our brains are made of, and which science has demonstrated pretty conclusively to be "all we are". | ||