[MD] Free Will

[Dan Glover]

Hello everyone

On Thu, Jun 30, 2011 at 1:04 PM, david buchanan <dmbuchanan at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> Dan said:
>  ...What some contributors seem to be saying is that determinism entails a lack of responsibility for one's actions. That is only so if we insist on believing our actions cause outcomes in predictable ways. They both do and do not.
>
> dmb says:
> Well, yes, that's how the issue is framed everywhere I look, from simple dictionary definitions to Siegfried's scholarly analysis of William James. In each case, determinism precludes responsibility. Determinism is the claim that our actions are caused by forces beyond our control. It's a claim about the causes of our actions, not the predictability of the consequences of our actions. In the former, our actions are the effects of causes while in the latter our actions are the causes of effects. See what I mean?

Dan:

Yes, I think so. But I am not sure that that is what I am getting at.
If B values precondition A, then our actions are determined by
preconditions and not by a chain of causality. Our actions are the
effect of preconditions, not choices, and those preconditions are
beyond our control. But that doesn't preclude moral responsibility for
our actions if our actions are seen as a (beginning) response to
Quality. Right?

Thank you,

Dan