Table of Contents
Does quantum mechanics disprove hard determinism?
Quantum mechanics does not disprove determinism. Although some people would like to use QM for that purpose, it is a very weak argument, if at all. A much stronger basis is, Chaos and/or non-linear functions. Any system that obeys/follows a non-linear function – is non-deterministic.
What is the problem with hard determinism?
Hard determinists reject free will. Critics often suggest that, in so doing, the hard determinist also rejects ethics. The key to this argument rests on the idea that holding a person morally responsible requires them to make a choice between two, or more, truly possible alternatives.
How is freedom undermined by determinism?
Determinism wrecks all freedom of choice, whether or not the choice is otherwise constrained. If the choice between the charity shop and the off-licence is the result of a determined causal chain involving the inner workings of the brain, then this is not a choice for which the person is truly responsible.
Can determinism be disproven?
Determinism in nature has been shown, scientifically, to be false. There is no real debate about this among physicists.
What is the strongest objection to hard determinism?
For most people, the strongest objection to hard determinism has always been the fact that when we choose to act in a certain way, it feels as if our choice is free: that is, it feels as if we are in control and exercising a power of self-determination.
Are hard determinists Incompatibilists?
A hard determinist is an incompatibilist who believes that determinism is in fact true (or, perhaps, that it is close enough to being true so far as we are concerned, in the ways relevant to free will) and because of this we lack free will (Holbach 1770; Wegner 2003).
Who thought of hard determinism?
One of the best-known statements of this doctrine was given by the French scientist Pierre-Simon Laplace (11749-1827).