I just wanted to make a quick post and share this new source of information. It is an official blog for graduate students published by the American Psychological Association (APA). I recommend it: www.gradpsychblog.org
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Monday, January 6, 2014
Rant About Free Will vs Determinism
This post is a continuation of my earlier rant about Frederick Hegel, where I wrote "Hegel's rationale is that, since any given phenomenon has an exact opposite, then on one side we have the thesis and on the other side we have the antithesis" (see December 11, 2013 post:
Constant Tension and the Cause of Human Existence: Late Night Philosophical Rant).
Determinism holds that every event is the consequence (the effect) of a previous set of conditions (the cause). A simplification I hear a lot is that "everything always happens for a reason". This can be considered to mean that nothing ever happens by chance, that everything we do is predetermined, that we have no power to change our future, and that there is no such thing as free will.
By contrast, in my humble view, I believe that determinism and free will are two paradoxical sides of the same coin. To use Hegel's terminology, determinism can be considered the thesis and free will the antithesis (or vice versa). I believe that this paradoxical existence of determinism and free will form the necessary tension that is necessary for us to adapt and evolve. Yes, the preexisting conditions will always dictate the set of choices that will be available to us at any specific point in time (thesis: determinism). But, it is always up to us to make a choice (antithesis: free will).
Once we have made a choice, the tension between thesis and antithesis is resolved and the choice we make becomes the synthesis. Furthermore, this choice we make becomes part of a new set of conditions (new cause) that will have a unique set of future consequences (new effect). In other words, the synthesis (our choice) will become the new thesis.
Constant Tension and the Cause of Human Existence: Late Night Philosophical Rant).
Determinism holds that every event is the consequence (the effect) of a previous set of conditions (the cause). A simplification I hear a lot is that "everything always happens for a reason". This can be considered to mean that nothing ever happens by chance, that everything we do is predetermined, that we have no power to change our future, and that there is no such thing as free will.
By contrast, in my humble view, I believe that determinism and free will are two paradoxical sides of the same coin. To use Hegel's terminology, determinism can be considered the thesis and free will the antithesis (or vice versa). I believe that this paradoxical existence of determinism and free will form the necessary tension that is necessary for us to adapt and evolve. Yes, the preexisting conditions will always dictate the set of choices that will be available to us at any specific point in time (thesis: determinism). But, it is always up to us to make a choice (antithesis: free will).
Once we have made a choice, the tension between thesis and antithesis is resolved and the choice we make becomes the synthesis. Furthermore, this choice we make becomes part of a new set of conditions (new cause) that will have a unique set of future consequences (new effect). In other words, the synthesis (our choice) will become the new thesis.
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