Determinism: Difference between revisions
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==== Determinism ==== | ==== Determinism ==== | ||
According the [[Free will|article about free will]], determinism can be defined as the idea that every event that will happen in the future is fully determined by events from the past and the natural laws.<ref | According the [[Free will|article about free will]], determinism can be defined as the idea that every event that will happen in the future is fully determined by events from the past and the natural laws.<ref>[[Free will]]</ref> | ||
==== Free Will (Indeterminism) ==== | ==== Free Will (Indeterminism) ==== | ||
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One could go even further and argue, that from this perspective, our decisions and hence actions must be at least partly deterministic, because a will cannot be considered fully free, if it relies on neural processes that are outside of our direct control. | One could go even further and argue, that from this perspective, our decisions and hence actions must be at least partly deterministic, because a will cannot be considered fully free, if it relies on neural processes that are outside of our direct control. | ||
=== Challenging Quantum Randomness === | |||
//todo | |||
== '''Challenges to Determinism''' == | == '''Challenges to Determinism''' == | ||
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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 Information''' == | |||
== '''Determinism and Knowledge''' == | == '''Determinism and Knowledge''' == | ||
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If it is possible to verify the truth or falsity of a belief, [[knowledge]] could be the final step in obtaining truth. | 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 | 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: | ||
In the case of Realism, stating that there is an objective reality and the truth or falsity of a statment cannot be influenced by subjective frameworks (culture, beliefs, etc.)<ref>https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/realism/</ref>, determinism would 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 would exist or not would have no result on the contents of our knowledge. | |||
If instead | If instead Relativism were true, meaning that the truth or falsity of all statements depends on a subjective framework applied in order to assess that statment<ref>https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/relativism/</ref>, determinism would not allow any freedoms or alternatives in the contents of our (subjective) knowledge, questioning the autonomy in shaping what we know: | ||
Even in a relativistic view, which might initially seem to offer freedom in knowledge, a deterministic nature of the universe could eliminate our ability to independently obtain or question given knowledge, as all decisions regarding what we consider true would be influenced by deterministic processes governing our brains and external factors. | |||
== '''Conclusion''' == | == '''Conclusion''' == | ||
== '''References''' == | == '''References''' == | ||
<references /> | <references /> | ||