[MD] James v. Dewey v. Pirsig w.r.t. "Free will"

[david buchanan]

Steve said:
Again, what is it about determinism that has "devastating consequences" and will "render your actions inert and your life meaningless"? ... Determinism (pragmatically understood as the hope of explaining events in terms of causes and effects) is a belief held to fulfill our desires to predict and control things. .. How does that hope make you or James or anyone else suicidal?

dmb says:
Oh, I see. Your question is predicated on the assumption that determinism is just pragmatically useful when we're doing physics. Now that I understand your point, I see how ridiculous it is. Physics isn't one bit depressing but determinism is, you unbelievable hack. I'm just not going to talk to you anymore until get a dictionary.

determinism |diˈtərməˌnizəm|noun Philosophythe doctrine that all events, including human action, are ultimately determined by causes external to the will. Some philosophers have taken determinism to imply that individual human beings have no free will and cannot be held morally responsible for their actions.

Because, you see, when I use the word "determinism", see, what I mean by "determinism" is view that we are determined, which implies that we have no freedom and that we cannot be responsible for anything we say or do. See?