[ExI] free-will, determinism, crime and punishment

[Samantha Atkins]

On Aug 19, 2007, at 9:27 PM, Lee Corbin wrote:

> Samantha writes
>
>> On second consideration of a decision point I might very
>> well take a road not taken before. Perhaps some of that
>> is just me as I seem to often be of at least two minds on
>> many things.
>
> Do you believe in uncaused events? Unless you do, I don't
> see how---under *exactly* identical circumstances---you
> can choose other than you did.

That is because you are being perhaps too much of a literalist about  
cause and effect.  The real world is much more messy and chaotic.    
There are no exactly identical circumstances.  It is only a thought  
experiment.   It does not show that anyone is incapable of choosing  
differently than they did.  So what is the point?

>
>>> Besides, the very wide tracts of neurons that determine
>>> a decision a few seconds before you make an action are,
>>> well, "deterministic" and I think that we can safely regard
>>> people as very akin to programs.
>>
>> They are not deterministic in the useful form or being precisely
>> predictable in macro level outcome.
>
> True.  It is necessary to distinguish between "ontological  
> determinism"
> and "epistemological determinism"  (Barrow and Tipler, 1986).
> I am making the ontological claim here that one's actions really
> are physically determined, whether or not there might be any
> short cut to their computation, or whether or not it's feasible to
> compute them.

Then wouldn't that have to elicit a "so what"?.

- samantha