thx for posting this...The mental operations mentioned can simply be replaced by terms such as higher dimensional, more subtle, etc; in which case there's still no change in the strength of the Harris arguments. ... imo - some other line of attack should be found by free will advocates; but I haven't found it yet. Something may turn up within the next trillion years possibly. http://www.fantasygallery.net/williamsg/art_5_crystal-deva.html
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Xenophaneros Anartaxius" <anartaxius@...> wrote: > > Sam Harris has posted a second follow up to his post on his own blog about > free will (the link to which tartbrain originally posted on this forum). In > this post he takes a slightly different tack on the subject: > > You Do Not Choose What You Choose > > Many readers continue to find my position on free will bewildering. Most of > the criticism Iâve received consists of some combination of the following > claims: > > 1. Your account assumes that mental events are, at bottom, physical > events. But if the mind is distinct from the brain (to any degree), this > would allow for freedom of will. > > 2. You admit that mental eventsâ"like choices, efforts, intentions, > reasoning, etcâ"cause certain of our actions. But such mental states > presuppose free will for their very existence. Your position is > self-contradictory: Either we are free to think and behave as we will, or > there is no such thing as choice, effort, intention, reasoning, etc. > > 3. Even if my thoughts and actions are the product of unconscious causes, > they are still my thoughts and actions. Anything that my brain does or > chooses, whether consciously or not, is something that I have done or chosen. > The fact that I cannot always be subjectively aware of the causes of my > actions does not negate free will. > > All of these objections express confusion about my basic premise. The first > is simply falseâ"my argument against free will does not require > philosophical materialism. There is no question that (most) mental events are > the product of physical eventsâ"but even if the human mind were part > soul-stuff, nothing about my argument would change. The unconscious > operations of a soul would grant you no more freedom than the unconscious > physiology of your brain does. > > Continues: > http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/you-do-not-choose-what-you-choose/ >
