Determinism: Difference between revisions
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Richard P. Feynman describes this experiment as "a phenomenon which is impossible, ''absolutely'' impossible, to explain in any classical way" (Feynman, Leighton, & Sands, 1963, as cited in S. Goldstein, 2021, 14 June)<ref>Goldstein, S. (2021, 14 June). Bohmian Mechanics. ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.''URL=<nowiki>https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/qm-bohm/#TwoSlitExpe</nowiki></ref>, which emphasizes that the classical deterministic viewpoint cannot explain these results, suggesting indeterminism. | Richard P. Feynman describes this experiment as "a phenomenon which is impossible, ''absolutely'' impossible, to explain in any classical way" (Feynman, Leighton, & Sands, 1963, as cited in S. Goldstein, 2021, 14 June)<ref>Goldstein, S. (2021, 14 June). Bohmian Mechanics. ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.''URL=<nowiki>https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/qm-bohm/#TwoSlitExpe</nowiki></ref>, which emphasizes that the classical deterministic viewpoint cannot explain these results, suggesting indeterminism. | ||
== '''Determinism and Knowledge''' == | |||
To examine the effects a causally deterministic world would have on our knowledge, we need to understand, that under causal determinism, every process in our brains, including the formation of beliefs and the pursuit of knowledge, would also be deterministic, merely caused by biochemical reactions in the brain. | |||
The term "[[belief]]" relates to something that we assume to be true, based on our own reasoning and perception, while it may actually be false, as implied in the [[Belief|article about belief]]. | |||
If it is possible to verify the truth or falsity of a belief, [[knowledge]] could be the final step in obtaining truth. | |||
If we define "[[knowledge]]" not just as an awareness and understanding of something, as described in the [[Knowledge|article about knowledge]], but also something that is actually true, unlike a belief, which can be false, then the consequences of determinism depend on whether there is only one single objective truth, as stated by the theory of Realism, or, instead Relativism applies, which would mean that there can be multiple subjective truths about one subject. | |||
That implies, that in the case of [[Realism]], determinism would not not impact the contents of our knowledge, but rather the selection of it, because only one truth would exist for each proposition, and any real knowledge achieved would be true, as we defined. Whether determinism existed or not, it would have no result on the contents of our knowledge. | |||
If instead [[Relativism]] was true, determinism would take away any freedoms or alternatives in the contents of our (subjective) knowledge, questioning our autonomy in shaping what we know. | |||
== '''Conclusion''' == | == '''Conclusion''' == | ||