Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Blog #5
At this point, the case against Free Will is definitely a tough one. The Determinists have an argument for everything. One in particular, a mad scientist decides to "electronically stimulate" a human being's brain without the person aware what is happening. By poking the brain he makes the person say and do random things, the determinist compares this to what we have going on in our brain everyday, what makes us do and say the things that we do, only with the stimulation we know the cause and without it we do not. I do not agree with this in the least. I believe our Free Will is built on our charecter, experiance, and circumstance, these our the things that make us who we are and effect our choices. The brain retains our memories and what makes us an individual, how this all works together, I cannot tell you. I can tell you however, that physically poking at an unaware human's brain and using the result of random answers and movements to support an argument is not comparable to what goes on naturally. This experiment is reckless and probably damaging. Our foundation is set with the things in our past, we may be more than likely to do one thing over another, but we always have a choice.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Blog #4
As Americans we live in a Free Country and are given the right to free choice. As we grow up we are raised by are parents or guardians and given a free education. With this we are taught what is right and wrong. Still not all people are able to make the right choices, or do the right things, some people choose the wrong road and even after being reprimanded, continue to do the same bad things.
What is it that separates the hero's from the heartless? Is it our character, or religion, maybe the way we were raised? As humans I believe that there is more than one explanation for the choices that we make in life. I think character is created with our experiences, and our upbringing. I believe the experiences that effect us most in life have to do with our circumstances. If I was born into a very poor uneducated family and never motivated to stay in school or never had food to eat, I might not be typing this right now. I could be in jail for stealing just to get by, and just continue on the wrong road. However circumstances have allowed me to be here now, and be the person I am today.
Circumstance is the one thing that consistently proves itself to affect our character and the decisions we make. We were born into circumstances we could not control, that for better or worse shaped our character. We are given free will, but we are not always given good circumstances.
What is it that separates the hero's from the heartless? Is it our character, or religion, maybe the way we were raised? As humans I believe that there is more than one explanation for the choices that we make in life. I think character is created with our experiences, and our upbringing. I believe the experiences that effect us most in life have to do with our circumstances. If I was born into a very poor uneducated family and never motivated to stay in school or never had food to eat, I might not be typing this right now. I could be in jail for stealing just to get by, and just continue on the wrong road. However circumstances have allowed me to be here now, and be the person I am today.
Circumstance is the one thing that consistently proves itself to affect our character and the decisions we make. We were born into circumstances we could not control, that for better or worse shaped our character. We are given free will, but we are not always given good circumstances.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Blog#3 Opinion on Determinism
This video reviews the first case in the beginning of the chapter The Case Against Free Will. Professors from several colleges explain their outlooks and theories on the many ideas of free will.
I have found the case against free will, to be a rather complicated one. Until now I was not aware of all the controversy between the ideas of Free Will versus Determinism. Apparently this issue has been a serious disagreement for philosophers for thousands of years.
Free Will states that we control our own destinies, by the choices we make & our values and morals behind our decision. Basically we have the power to choose regardless of our circumstances.
Determinism is the doctrine that all events, including human action, are ultimately determined by causes out of our control. Therefore individual human beings cannot be held morally responsible for their actions, no matter how series the crime.
In the case of the two Chicago teenagers that murdered an innocent boy just to see if they could, I believe they made a choice. The bottom line is they knew what was right and what was wrong, and they made a decision to do what was very wrong. The boys’ defense attorney supported Determinism. He did not believe holding an individual accountable for their crime. He believed that the only difference between criminals and good moral people was simply circumstance. Still has case was so convincing it took the judge a month to deliberate on their sentence.
Don’t get me wrong, I do believe that certain circumstances in their lives obviously knocked a few screws loose. However they had a choice and the made a decision no matter how wrong it felt, and because of they stole an innocent life I don’t see it out of the question to take theirs.
If we were let every murderer off on good parole, I don’t think we would be safe anywhere.
In the video one professor states, that “Morality is out of place in a world with no free will.” What kind of world has no morality? Without morals, we not only have crime and chaos, but an excuse for it as well.
I have found the case against free will, to be a rather complicated one. Until now I was not aware of all the controversy between the ideas of Free Will versus Determinism. Apparently this issue has been a serious disagreement for philosophers for thousands of years.
Free Will states that we control our own destinies, by the choices we make & our values and morals behind our decision. Basically we have the power to choose regardless of our circumstances.
Determinism is the doctrine that all events, including human action, are ultimately determined by causes out of our control. Therefore individual human beings cannot be held morally responsible for their actions, no matter how series the crime.
In the case of the two Chicago teenagers that murdered an innocent boy just to see if they could, I believe they made a choice. The bottom line is they knew what was right and what was wrong, and they made a decision to do what was very wrong. The boys’ defense attorney supported Determinism. He did not believe holding an individual accountable for their crime. He believed that the only difference between criminals and good moral people was simply circumstance. Still has case was so convincing it took the judge a month to deliberate on their sentence.
Don’t get me wrong, I do believe that certain circumstances in their lives obviously knocked a few screws loose. However they had a choice and the made a decision no matter how wrong it felt, and because of they stole an innocent life I don’t see it out of the question to take theirs.
If we were let every murderer off on good parole, I don’t think we would be safe anywhere.
In the video one professor states, that “Morality is out of place in a world with no free will.” What kind of world has no morality? Without morals, we not only have crime and chaos, but an excuse for it as well.
Blog #2
Is this argument valid?
i. The Determinist Argument:
1. Every event must have a cause.
2. Human Actions are events.
3. Therefore, every human action is caused...
4. So, determinism must be true.
Is this argument valid?
It is true every event does have a cause, and sure human actions are events, but just because an action is caused does not make it Determinism.
There is always another option, in this case choice. Human actions are caused by choice. Our brain communicates with our body, and we decide what action to take.
No, I do not believe this argument is valid.
Weiss, P.L. “Does Free Will Exist?”1996.
http://members.aol.com/plweiss1/freewill.htm
What is Naturalism?
Naturalism is the idea that everything including the individual is part of a single unified natural world, and determinism is a logical consequence. Most determinists reject free will because they have first rejected the supernatural. For the supernaturalist, free will remains a very logical idea, but for the naturalist, it is not.
http://www.wikihow.com/Understand-Philosophical-Determinism
I learned that there is more than one type of determinism. Soft determinism is the idea that while a person can will something different than the outsides forces , the will is still determined in terms of the inside forces. Where scientific determinism states everything is calculated and happens for a reason, no matter what we want we have to control, it is set to be the way it is.
Soft Determinism is compatible with free will, and Hard determinism is not compatible.
http://courses.indwes.edu/PHL180/free.html
i. The Determinist Argument:
1. Every event must have a cause.
2. Human Actions are events.
3. Therefore, every human action is caused...
4. So, determinism must be true.
Is this argument valid?
It is true every event does have a cause, and sure human actions are events, but just because an action is caused does not make it Determinism.
There is always another option, in this case choice. Human actions are caused by choice. Our brain communicates with our body, and we decide what action to take.
No, I do not believe this argument is valid.
Weiss, P.L. “Does Free Will Exist?”1996.
http://members.aol.com/plweiss1/freewill.htm
What is Naturalism?
Naturalism is the idea that everything including the individual is part of a single unified natural world, and determinism is a logical consequence. Most determinists reject free will because they have first rejected the supernatural. For the supernaturalist, free will remains a very logical idea, but for the naturalist, it is not.
http://www.wikihow.com/Understand-Philosophical-Determinism
I learned that there is more than one type of determinism. Soft determinism is the idea that while a person can will something different than the outsides forces , the will is still determined in terms of the inside forces. Where scientific determinism states everything is calculated and happens for a reason, no matter what we want we have to control, it is set to be the way it is.
Soft Determinism is compatible with free will, and Hard determinism is not compatible.
http://courses.indwes.edu/PHL180/free.html
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Blog#1 My Chapter Choices
The Case against Free Will
Are People Responsible for What They Do? I believe they are, and they should be held accountable for it. There are too many loop holes in our justice system today, and there will continue to be if we keep letting people walk away from the crimes they have committed. Clarence Darrow used the defense that, “people are never responsible for what they do, because their actions are caused by forces beyond their control.” If we were to handle every murderer and rapist like this, our society would be worse than ever. This particular defense is simply an easy way out for the guilty. I am interested to read about the different cases and the defenses that attorneys used to win their cases.
Do We Survive Death?
Death is not something I have really ever had to deal with, still when the time comes and something does happen that forces me to deal with the thought I would like to be more confident in my beliefs of what really does happen. Why do millions of people report of seeing ghosts yet the idea of them to most people is crazy? Can people really communicate with the dead? If ghosts are real, why haven’t they moved on? This chapter is full of many questions, I am not sure that they can ever be answered, however I look forward to studying the different theories.
Are People Responsible for What They Do? I believe they are, and they should be held accountable for it. There are too many loop holes in our justice system today, and there will continue to be if we keep letting people walk away from the crimes they have committed. Clarence Darrow used the defense that, “people are never responsible for what they do, because their actions are caused by forces beyond their control.” If we were to handle every murderer and rapist like this, our society would be worse than ever. This particular defense is simply an easy way out for the guilty. I am interested to read about the different cases and the defenses that attorneys used to win their cases.
Do We Survive Death?
Death is not something I have really ever had to deal with, still when the time comes and something does happen that forces me to deal with the thought I would like to be more confident in my beliefs of what really does happen. Why do millions of people report of seeing ghosts yet the idea of them to most people is crazy? Can people really communicate with the dead? If ghosts are real, why haven’t they moved on? This chapter is full of many questions, I am not sure that they can ever be answered, however I look forward to studying the different theories.
Philosophy to Me
I see philosophy as a search for knowledge, of life's greatest questions. Philosophy is a way of thinking outside the box & challenging traditional thinking.
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