On Fri, Apr 15, 2011 at 4:53 PM, meekerdb <meeke...@verizon.net> wrote: > On 4/15/2011 1:36 PM, Rex Allen wrote: >> >> On Fri, Apr 15, 2011 at 3:48 PM, meekerdb<meeke...@verizon.net> wrote: >> >>> >>> On 4/15/2011 12:16 PM, Rex Allen wrote: >>> >>>> >>>> Critics of "free will in the absolute incompatibilist sense" are >>>> correct. >>>> >>>> Critics of "compatibilist free will" object to the misuse of terms by >>>> compatibilists, not to the concepts described by those terms. >>>> >>>> There is no confusion. The problem is quite clear...combatibilists >>>> are engaged in word-jugglery. >>>> >>>> >>> >>> It is not word-jugglery. It's legal terminology and distinguishes what >>> someone does out of their personal desires as compared to what they do >>> under >>> threat of coercion. Compatibilist free will corresponds with the legal >>> term. >>> >> >> What court has ever ruled that libertarian free will does not exist? >> > > What court has ever ruled that it does exist? None. That's not a question > courts rule on. They decide on coerced vs not coerced, competent vs not > competent. They don't address metaphysics.
Then compatibilism is not legal terminology, and so gains no legitimacy there. Compatibilism involves redefining words associated with the traditional notion of "free will" in such a way as to make determinism seem compatibile with free will. But if I get to redefine terms unilaterally, I can make anything seem compatible with anything else. On paper at least. Compatibilism is just a technical term for "free will related word jugglery". I'm not sure what you meant by your claim that it was "legal terminology". > >> What percentage of legislators, judges, lawyers, and jurors do you >> think are compatibilists vs. libertarian on free will? >> > > What percentage are pre-destinationists? What percentage are fatalists? > Who cares? People who claim that compatibilism is a legal term, I assume. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en.
