From: ak254@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Ralph A. Gardner-Chavis)
Newsgroups: talk.philosophy.misc
Subject: Re: the meaning of "freewill"
Date: 13 Sep 92 15:04:00 GMT
Reply-To: ak254@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Ralph A. Gardner-Chavis)
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
NNTP-Posting-Host: slc10.ins.cwru.edu


 
What is wrong with the definition of `freewill' as `action without
antecedent(s)'?  The concept of `action dependent upon antecedents' is not at
all difficult to understand.  However, to identify, explicitly and
quantitatively, the antecedents to a particular act may be an impossible task.
 
For example, many years ago there was a section at the front of the Parents
magazine labeled `Childhood and Teenage Problems'. Generally, mothers wrote in
to say how they got Suzy to do her homework, James to stop biting the dog,
etc.  This mother wrote " We have identical twin boys six months old.  While
we want to allow each twin to develop his own personality, we want each to
have the same amount of love and attention.
 
We noticed that `Johnny' had a rather happy disposition and did not fret or
cry very much.  While `Tommy' had a very unhappy disposition and fretted and
cried a lot.  We noticed that Johnny's crib was by the door of their bedroom
and that he could see and be seen by the other members of the family.  While
Tommy's crib was in a corner in a not as favorable position.  We changed the
twins week by week from crib to crib, we now have two happy smiling little
boys".
 
If this can be the subtlety of the development of personality and the subtlety
of some `antecedents' it is clear that persons themselves can not recall the
factors determining their `choices'.
 Obviously, others have no way of knowing such antecedents occurred.
 
In addition to what ever prenatal influences, hormonal, genetic, and from the
external environment, the new born infant has countless experiences the first
day and first week after being born.  Thus a `100% accurate prediction of
behavior' is impossible.
 
However, there are rather accurate qualitative predictions that in some cases
may be made.  For example, we know of the admonitions,
 `A child that is raised with love will be loving
 A child that is shown kindness will be kind
 A child that is shown compassion will be sympathetic, etc.'
 
I am sure that I have not remembered the above very well.  In fact, I would
appreciate if anyone would post it correctly.
 
Some behavior which may be qualitatively `predicted' is:
 Adults from `disfunctional' families will have a disfunctional family.
 Adults who were abused as children will abuse their children.
 Musical ability is frequently perpetuated in families.
 
The `antecedents' or `factors which determine' a specific action may be any
combination of a near infinitude of liminal and subliminal experiences. 
However, action MUST be predicated on ones past or I could at any moment speak
fluent Sanskrit or Japanese, neither of which have I heard.  Thus, `Everything
you do, only depends upon what has happened to you before, including your
heredity' and freeewill is a subjective illusion.
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-- 
Intelligent life on Mars? 
I didn't think there was intelligent life on Earth!
Newsgroups: talk.philosophy.misc