Chapter 18. Free Will and Determinism
Crowds at Squires, Library of Congress
Ideas of Interest from "Free Will and Determinism"
Explain the difference between scientific and "soft" determinism.
What is the one miracle that would happen in a predeterministic universe?
Explain the difference between predestination and fatalism. How does the short characterization of the doctrine of fatalism in this chapter differ from the lexical definition of "fatalism"?
If our choices are not due to chance, reason, or causes, what is the nature of a free decision? If someone freely chooses, then would it follow there could be no basis for the decision because any basis would limit the freedom of the choice?
Are probabilistic or "chance" predictions simply approximations of deterministic predictions? I.e., are chance outcomes a result of our inability to accurately observe and measure the initial conditions of an event?