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RE: Random Musings...Free will...
It’s great that you’re still thinking a lot... ;-))
This does, however, open up a dangerous area: of course we are and always will be part of nature. But we do not act purely on instinct or impulse. Our ability to think, our consciousness, has led relatively directly to a conscience and to moral values. We know what is right and wrong. We make the decision to behave wrongly ourselves. Just as we do the decision to stay on the right path.
If there is no free will, if we are slaves to our nature, then there can be no legitimate criminal proceedings. The defence might instinctively argue: “He / she / it couldn’t have acted any other way; it wasn’t a decision made of their own free will...”
Thank you.
Very good points. I would suggest that understanding the workings of nature doesn't change the way we live, feel or otherwise get on with our lives.
It seems to me that we don't really see the whole picture. My friend and I are experiencing the same thing, and my friend decides to react differently to how I would react. That doesn't mean my friend is exercising free will. It merely means that he has a different history influencing his decisions. Even our different position during that experience gives us different perspectives, which flow directly into our decisions.
Right and wrong are learned. They may have evolved through our ancestors' experience, and passed down to us, over generations.
Anyway, I just like the subject. ;)
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