Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Sam Harris and Free Will and Double Predestination

Sam Harris's view on free will is really nothing new. It is merely a secular restatement of the Calvinist concept of double predestination - we are saved or damned without any input from ourselves. 

It is, of course, impossible to determine if we have free will or merely think we have free will.  The best approach to such questions is to remember, with Lear, 'O, that way madness lies; let me shun that'.

7 comments:

  1. Actually, Harris makes no comment regarding heaven and hell. His thesis rests on the logic and science that our choices are either caused or random, both prospects make free will impossible, and that there is no third option. I do agree, however that Harris is not saying anything that has not been said before, both in psychology and philosophy.

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  2. Agreed -- my point is the basic thesis is the same

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  3. Agreed -- my point is the basic thesis is the same

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