[MD] Compatiblism

[david buchanan]

Ron provided an example of Steve's denial of free will:

Steve said to dmb:
"Compatiblism says that free will and determinism are both true. It says that the serpent of causation is thus over everything."


dmb says:
I'd ask the same rhetorical question that Ron asked. "How can they both be true if causation runs over everything?"


The answer, of course, is that they can't both be true. If the serpent of causation is over everything, then there is no freedom. Zip, zero, nada. Those who think everything is the effect of causality, then you are a classic causal determinist. What makes this position so totally wrong is that Pirsig's reformulation rejects causality and the metaphysics of substance on which it is based. Getting rid of that is Pirsig's central move but Steve is rejecting that solution and re-inserting the original problem in it's place. It's as if his whole aim and purpose is to be as wrong as possible. I see that Steve has already posted several times today and it's quite clear that he's going to persist with this kind of nonsense regardless of what the dictionary, logic and the textual evidence says.

Rather than posting a long string of insulting profanities that negatively characterize Steve's lack of honesty and intelligence, I'll just say, "no thanks" and "I'm done".