anti-choice determinist 14

12/07/14 • 29 min

A facebook friend asked me what I think should be done in the criminal justice system and what I think of the death penalty. Some things will obviously have to change in the way we think about criminals. We can try to separate and reform them. We just can't hate them or believe that they deserve to die.

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anti-choice determinist 13

In this episode I read from Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary. He had much to say about it. The truth that we are machines is so difficult for most people to accept. When you look at the machines such as computers, phone, cars, airplanes and others that humans depend on, you will be glad that they don't have a free will. We expect machines to do their job reliably and deterministically. While humans are machines, they are far less reliable or predictable than machines built by humans. This is only because we don't understand all the causes of what they do. We are machines assembled by more causes than we can fully know.

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anti-choice determinist 15

Not having a free will does not mean that we don't have social constructs of responsibility, standards, expectations, obligations, duties, agreements, or contracts. The fact that we can expect things of people at all is another example of determinism. What it does mean is that these expectations are all forced upon us just like our existence and that we cannot logically credit or blame people for their conformity to what we expect. This is important for us to understand to reduce hatred and violence. I feel an obligation to act in a way that I believe is the most moral way. Since my will is to create a happier world, I cannot stay silent about what I think will lead to that outcome. If I am the only one who can say or do something, doesn't that obligate me to do it?