determinism

• what did Epicurus put forward?

  the atomic thesis
• Epicurus took the view that the world consisted entirely of what?

  atoms within a void, the world = entirely physical
• any event was therefore...?

  theoretically predictable, given its circumstances and the natural forces involved
• what would this mean?

  that we have no control over the forces of nature, nor can we determine the situations in which we find ourselves
• therefore, we have no freedom of action, and are...?

  entirely determined by forces and circumstances outside ourselves and beyond our control
• what is determinism?

  the view that all events and states of affairs, including all human decisions, are the necessary consequence of previous states of affairs
• determinism is commonly identified with determinism, why?

  because the laws of cause and effect in physics can be seen as a chain of previous causes, going back to the Big Bang
• what is hard determinism?

  the view that because determinism is true, no one has free will
• we may think that we are free to choose what to do BUT...?

  such freedom is merely an illusion created by the very complex processes that go on in the human brain
• we may think that we are free to choose what to do BUT...?

  such freedom is merely an illusion created by the very complex processes that go on in the human brain
• what does John Locke believe?

  that all events that happen are determined by an unbreakable chain of past causes that cannot be escaped from
• what does Locke provide?

  the locked room analogy
• explain the locked room analogy:

  a man wakes up, in bed, in a room that's unknown to him, its locked from the outside. The man chooses to stay and have more rest, believing that he has freely chosen to stay there
• in reality...?

  he has no choice but to stay
• its only his ignorance of the locked door that gave him an...?

  illusion of freedom
• in the same way...?

  humanity is ignorant of causation (past causes affecting our decisions/ behaviours), and that gives them the illusion of freedom
• determinism is sometimes backed up by an approach called what?

  reductionism
• what is reductionism?

  the view that to understand a complex entity, one should reduce it to the smallest component parts of which it is made
• with this approach then...?

  human behaviour is reduced to biology, then reduced to chemistry and finally then reduced to physics
• on this basis, out thoughts may be seen as...?

  no more than electrical impulses in the brain, and our actions - the result of chemical and electrical activity
• if everything is reduced to its simplest physical components and those components can also be shown to be determined by the laws of physics then...?

  the complex whole is thereby determined by those laws
• what do determinist philosophers, including Spinoza, insist?

  this feeling of freedom is merely ignorance
• what is a direct quote from Spinoza?

  "men are conscious of their own desire, but are ignorant of the causes whereby that desire has been determined"
• all our moral choices are...?

  necessary consequences
• what did Spinoza consider?

  that everything in the world was totally determined by physical causes, and therefore had no scope for human freedom
• we only consider ourselves to be free because...?

  we are ignorant of all the causes operating on us
• for example, if you decided to consult a therapist then...?

  they would be quick to point out the unconscious causes of your actions, of which you were naturally unaware
• the experience of freedom is...?

  an illusion generated by our ignorance of the totality of the causes acting upon us
• if we could take into account everything that had ever happened to us and every experience that etched neural pathways into out brain then...?

  we would understand that our choices have been determined
• what does scientific determinism hold?

  that all events, including human actions and choices are determined by previous events, so there can be no freedom at all
• what is scientific determinism a form of?

  hard determinism
• equations in physics work...?

  just as well backwards in time as they do forwards
• an omnipotent mind could...?

  reverse the process back to the Big Bang
• in other words, what are the equations in physics?

  deterministic
• how are the equations in physics deterministic?

  physics governs everything, therefore every event in the universe is determined by physics
• what does this therefore mean?

  that the future is also determined
• when we look at physical nature, what do we see?

  a chain of causality that spreads outwards and backwards from any one physical event
• the physical world appears to be...?

  a seamless interlocking whole, with no scope for human free will to make a difference
• scientific determinism could be avoided if...?

  the laws of nature are probabilistic
• how else might scientific determinism be avoided?

  if the quantum world is indeterminate