Considering Free Will: The Deterministic Part

Monday, September 28, 2009 - 14:28 in Psychology & Sociology

There is no question that we live in a deterministic universe.  Despite some of the uncertainties and probabilities that are exhibited in the quantum world, the world we actually deal with is functionally deterministic.  While we may encounter unpredictable events, they are not random in the sense that they are without cause, or indeterminate. In fact, part of the problem in considering free will, is the idea that knowledge isn't possible without determinism, since the presumption is that past knowledge or experience can be applied to future events with consistency.  The entire scientific method is based on predictability which necessitates determinism1. read more

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