Philosophy Now Forum

But here’s the uncomfortable truth: just because something feels right doesn’t make it right. The impulse to punish feels righteous because you’ve been conditioned to see it that way. We all have. Western justice systems don’t just punish—they wrap punishment in moral theater. “They deserved it.” “...

The onus is on you to explain yourself. I've simply pointed out that your 'determinism with choice' stance is an absurd contradiction in terms. That's self explanatory. No, accelafine—you haven’t “simply pointed out” anything. You’ve declared my position a contradiction without actually explaining ...

A question for the general PN reader: Is this forum just another social media space for reflexive bickering and personal jabs? Or is it supposed to be a place for honest, intellectually serious debate? Because if we’re aiming for the latter, then dismissing arguments with snide one-liners, declaring...

I haven't misinterpreted anything. You've written the same thing often enough for crying out loud. You just know I'm right. Simple. Perfect then. Since you haven’t misinterpreted anything, you should be able to clearly explain how I’ve said that memory, learning, and prior experiences can influence...

I don't think it's accurate to call us "determined" if we are able to choose. Determinism generally means that one could not do anything other than what one did. I can choose not to rape or murder or I can choose to give away all my money if I want. I think you're going to have to bite th...

I'm still confused. You say a person who does something doesn't "deserve" what they receive for it. But then you say outcomes influence behavior. Isn't that the same as saying "gold stars and lashes" are "deserved", meaning that is what must be applied in order to assu...

Color me confused. You say no one "deserves" incentives or disincentives, But you say that they influence behavior through cause and effect "not through handing out moral gold stars or lashes"? But isn't that what causes the effect of people doing things, the gold stars or lashe...

By saying that 'accepting determinisim' means we can then 'choose to be kinder and more just' is a contradiction. If my posts annoy you that much, accelafine, there's a simple fix: put me on your foe-list. That way you won’t have to read anything I write, and you can stop misrepresenting what I’m s...

OK. Wait, you said incentives have an effect. But disincentives don't? Do incentives make people happy and want to pursue the tasks that would reward them? But disincentives don't cause people to think twice about murdering someone who really, really pissed them off by cutting them off in traffic o...

Anyone, everyone can act differently in any given moment. That is more true than saying no one in a given moment could act differently. But it is certainly true that men can be trained to control their impulses and to think about consequences in the moment . That people who engage in crimes make th...

So, by the same token, no one "deserves" Nobel Prizes (or any achievement for that matter). Perhaps we could start the ball of deterministic acceptance rolling by doing away with trophies and prizes, doing away with competitions that reward achievement or merit. Instead of giving a CEO mi...

Well the conditions that cause me to "worship punishment" are when I see mass violence being wrongly inflicted on innocent people. How can I "change" those conditions? What would you suggest as a solution to that "worshiping punishment"? Should I shut off news stations...

Determinism means no one could have acted differently in the moment. That’s not a philosophical garnish—it’s the core. No freedom to choose means no moral justification for blame-based punishment. Period. You can’t logically hold someone “accountable” in the traditional sense if their actions were ...

If our actions are truly "determined" then maybe some of us can't stop "worshiping punishment"? Determinism implies that we only do what has been determined that we do. If we have free will, then we could stop what we're doing. If we are "determined" then what is deter...

If determinism tells us nothing prescriptive (a call for some action to be taken in accord with it) then what is wrong with morality as practiced now where people who commit crimes face some kind of penalty for it? Should someone who does a great wrong be "reformed" for it? So, if a terro...