Philosophy Now Forum

Briancrc wrote:When someone offers a view of determinism and the response by another is, "You're stupid," is the person offering up the insult determined to be a douche or choosing to be one?

Where's the unenlightened individual that said someone was 'stupid.' Most people aren't 'stupid,' rather they're 'ignorant' instead. He who said someone was 'stupid' was being rather ignorant, yes?

Determinism and free will are not at odds. The free will of humans is an effect of the determinism of the universe, sure. But also the freewill of some humans is the causal of the determinism experienced by other humans, and the universe, of course it's all done in the confines of the universe. The confines of the universe is known as physics. Within that container, humans can choose any particular physical choice, that the container allows, and there's your free will. Why some people want to make more out of free will than it actually includes is beyond me.

Free will does not oppose determinism, it is contained within determinism, and yet it can also generate deterministic effects, which might be why people seem to believe that it's at odds with determinism.