Scientific determinism

• All events, including human action and choices, are determined by antecedent events and states of affairs, so there can be no freedom of the will
• There is a sequence of events from the big bang to now, every single one having a cause and effect
• All actions are based on physics; equations in physics are deterministic
• Everything in physical nature is a chain of causality with no 'gaps' for free will
• Avoiding scientific determinism

  1. Scientific determinism can be avoided if the laws of nature are probabilistic
  2. Scientific determinism might be avoided if the quantum world is indeterminate
• Laws of nature are probabilistic

  • New theories replace old ones
  • It is likely that everything we 'know' will be proven wrong and replaced
  • Scientific laws cannot claim absolute truth
• Quantum world is indeterminate

  • If there are entities exempt from being governed by the laws of nature, scientific determinism must be rejected
  • Bohr and Heisenberg said the laws governing the quantum world are indeterministic and probabilistic (the 'Copenhagen Interpretation')
• Against the Copenhagen Interpretation

  • The 'Many-worlds Interpretation' implies all possible outcomes of quantum measurements are physically realised in some 'world'
  • E.g. Schrodinger's cat is both alive and dead before the box is opened, but the 'alive' and 'dead' cat exist in different branches of the multiverse, both of which are equally real, but do not interact with each other
  • This would prove scientific determinism
• Chaos theory- the idea that random/ chance events produce large-scale changes. The Butterfly Effect
• Chaotic systems only give the illusion of randomness, in reality, the events are still determined
• Chaos theory is far too complex to be computed, but it is still deterministic
• cosmic microwave background radiation

  • Oldest light in the universe, was produced 378,000 years after the big bang
  • Strongest in the microwave region of the radio spectrum
  • Determines that the universe is close to 13.77 billion years old
• Bivalent

  • time appears to be bivalent (in pairs of two)
  • It can go forwards and backwards
• Limitations of scientific determinism

  • Scientific theory could be wrong as it is based on inductive reasoning- whilst the conclusion is probable, it is not certain
  • At a 'quantum' level, physical behaviour is random and unpredictable- reductionism could go against determinism in this way