At 1:17 PM +0000 1/9/00, Struan Hellier wrote:
>Greetings,
>
>This interested me.
>
>Horse posited the question:
>
>"None of the problems I've seen discussed recently are going anywhere.
>They vary between
>Emotivism (I believe X, do so too) and pasting the MoQ onto already held
>beliefs. Neither
>approach will get anyone anywhere in arguing moral action. In fact, the
>most basic
>question of moral action has been continually ignored:
>Is it possible to behave morally?
If we say yes, then we have a basis for further discussion; If we say no,
then all discussion ceases.
So it comes down to CHOICE doesn't it?
>Are we determined or do we have free will. Only if we have free will can
>we CHOOSE to act
>morally (and I'm going to get really pissed off if someone gives me the
>standard Pirsig fudge
>that our actions are free when we follow DQ, 'cause if we don't CHOOSE our
>course then we
>are not FREE. Are we being continually being blown about by the wind of DQ
>or can we
>make a choice of the most Dynamic action. Choice still comes into the
>equation and the
>question of whether we have it or not still needs to be answered) "
I can either choose to believe I have free will or I can choose to believe
I don't have free will. Choice seems so simple and obvious that I have
never really thought about debating the issue. How can you fail to see the
paradox in choosing non-choice? Thus, we HAVE to have choice. We've got
no choice in the matter. :-)
In fact, I did mention a while back that free choice is how we define
consciousness. Any entity which can choose has a mind, any entity which
has a mind can choose. The terms "free will" and "consciousness" are
interchangeable. Thus its as futile to argue that there is no free will as
it is to argue that there's no such thing as consciousness or intellect.
Metaphysics 101, baby.
jc
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