[MD] Compatiblism

[david buchanan]

Back in June Matt said:
 "... if determinism is the thesis that we are caught up in causal chains, then it is not destructive of moral reasoning because moral reasoning is something that occurs partly _because_ of causal chains.  Moral reasoning _needs_ causal chains. And if that's the case, why on earth would determinism destroy moral reasoning?"


dmb says:
I don't think the claim is that determinism destroys moral REASONING, although that might be true too. The claim is the determinism precludes moral responsibility. If we are caught up in causal chains, then our actions are determined by those laws rather than by our choices.



Matt also said:
I think it's a mistake to think that the MoQ "does away with cause and effect."  I don't think that's exactly what Pirsig meant.


dmb says:
If we are talking about Pirsig's reformulation of free will and determinism, then that is exactly what Pirsig meant. He gets rid of causality and replaces with preferences and values. 

"In the past the logic has been that if chemistry professors are composed exclusively of atoms and if atoms follow only the law of cause and effect, then chemistry professors must follow the laws of cause and effect too. But this logic can be applied in a reverse direction. We can just as easily deduce themorality of atoms from the observation that chemistry professors are, in general, moral. If chemistry professors exercise choice, and chemistryprofessors are composed exclusively of atoms, then it follows that atoms must exercise choice too. The difference between these two points of viewis philosophic, not scientific." (Pirsig in Lila 157)


"Scientific materialism, which is commoner among lay followers of science than among scientists themselves, holds that what is composed of matter or energy and is measurable by the instruments of science is real. Anything else is unreal, or at least of no importance." (Pirisg in ZAMM)


"Determinism is the philosophic doctrine that man, like all other objects in the universe, follows fixed scientific laws, and does so without exception. ... If man follows the cause-and-effect laws of substance, then man cannot really choose between right and wrong. On the other hand, if the determinists let go of their position it would seem to deny the truth of science. If one adheres to a traditional scientific metaphysics of substance, the philosophy of determinism is an inescapable corollary. If 'everything' is included in the class of 'substance and its properties,' and if 'substance and properties' is included in the class of 'things that always follow laws,' and if 'people' are included int class 'everything', then it is an air-tight logical conclusion that people always follow the laws of substance. ...All the social sciences, including anthropology, were founded on the bedrock metaphysical belief that these physical cause-and-effect laws of human behavior exist. Moral laws, if they can be said to exist at all, are merely an artificial social code that has nothing to do with the real nature of the world." (Pirsig in Lila 155-6)