[MD] Free Will

[Steven Peterson]

Hi Ham,

Ham:
> Free will is the power to choose.  It is unintelligible only for
> determinists who believe that human actions, like all evolutionary events,
> are the consequence of prior causes.
> This would be true if human beings were controlled by their "beingness",
> enslaved by their genetic propensities and biological instincts, or
> programmed by a moral universe.
>
> Statistical conglomerates pay tribute to deterministic forces.  But this is
> not the case for singularities such as human beings who possess a unique,
> highly developed, and sensitive perception of diversity.  This affords man
> the unique capability for enacting his intentions, which is the basis of his
> active intelligence and which, as James Fletcher Baxter says, makes man
> "earth's Choicemaker."
>
> The "singularity" I allude to here is that man is created as a
> 'being-aware', an entity that stands apart from his Creator.  As a free
> agent of the Absolute Source, man has an autonomy that transcends the laws
> of biological survival in the existential sense, as well as the "packaged
> choices" paradigm of statistical probability.  This is why Protagoras
> declared that "man is the measure of all things," (an axiom that, as Marsha
> reminds me, I incorrectly credited to Parmenides in my response to Ron
> yesterday).


Steve:
Do you see this "power to choose" as the possession of man but not
other animals?

Best,
Steve