Necessitation is the negator of freedom.
Causal necessity negates
indeterminism, and
nothing else. Causal necessity is the universal fact that every event is caused by prior events. It is a background constant of the universe. It is always present in every event. And the correct way to view causal necessity is as a constant that always appears on both sides of every equation, and which can be subtracted from both sides without affecting the result. Causal necessity is the most meaningless of trivialities. It makes itself irrelevant by its own ubiquity. The only thing that surprises us about universal causal necessity is that someone would even bother to bring it up. After all,
We all take reliable cause and effect for granted in everything we think and do.
Freedom
requires reliable cause and effect. Without it, we could never reliably cause any effect, and would have no freedom to do anything at all. So, the notion of "freedom
from reliable causation" is a self-contradiction, an oxymoron that creates a paradox. In short, it is an
irrational, delusional notion.
Freedom is the simple ability to do what we want. This ability is sometimes constrained. A person can go to jail and later be set
free from jail. A child must remain quiet in the classroom, but at recess he is
free to run around and play. If the electricity goes out during a storm, I am no longer
free to use my computer or watch television or cook something in the microwave. But then, when the electricity is back, I am once again
free to do what I want.
All of this
constraining and
freeing is taking place within a universe of perfectly reliable cause and effect, where every event is the necessary result of prior events. The fact of causal necessity does not contradict any of the constraining or freeing that is going on within it. In fact,
all of the constraints and freedoms are causally necessary.
The notion that causal necessity eliminates any of our freedoms is a profoundly false assertion.
''Each state of the universe and its events are the necessary result of its prior state and prior events. ("Events" change the state of things.) Determinism means that events will proceed naturally (as if "fixed as a matter of natural law") and reliably ("without deviation"). All of these events, including my choices, were causally necessary from any prior point in time. And they all proceeded without deviation from the Big Bang to this moment.'' - Marvin Edwards.
Yes. He is correct, of course. Every event that ever happens is always causally necessary and inevitably will happen. This is a logical fact derived from our assumption of a world of perfectly reliable cause and effect.
And we all assume reliable cause and effect because
every freedom we have, to do anything at all, requires it.
That is why it is absurd to suggest that reliable cause and effect is something we need to be free of in order to be 'truly' free. Not only is this logically false, and physically impossible, but it is false in the most perverse way. It turns reliable causation from the tool by which we are free to exercise control over events, into some mythical monster that controls our fate and erases all our freedoms!
None of our freedoms require being free from reliable cause and effect. In fact, every freedom we have requires that we
not be free from reliable causation.
Determinism does not actually change anything.
Determined means that the state of the system and all that follows does the 'choosing' ...
And there is your mythical monster, going by the name "the state of the system". The system you refer to is the universe. But the universe itself does absolutely no choosing. It is an inanimate object lacking both purpose and intelligence. The only place you'll find purposeful behavior is within the individual living organisms, each following their biological drives to survive, thrive, and reproduce.
The only place you'll find choosing is within the individual members of intelligent species. They have evolved brains enabling imagination, evaluation, and choosing.
So, choosing is a local function, not a function performed by the universe as a whole.
The system as a whole is just an inanimate object, with no goals or reasons or interests in any outcomes. But living organisms will actively transform their environments by causing their unique effects. They will sprout up everywhere, reproducing in competition with other living organisms for space and resources. And intelligent species will do the same, but with more imagination, planning, and cooperation.
- each and every action proceeding without deviation from the last, x >y> z, ''without deviation from the Big Bang to this moment.'' - Marvin Edwards.
Yep, just like that smart guy said. We are both the result of prior causes and also the causes of future events. That's how it works. And we will deliberately choose what future event we will cause. For example, I can cause the waiter to bring me a Chef Salad, or, I can cause the waiter to bring me a Steak Dinner.
All of my freedoms and abilities are the reliable result of prior causes. It was causally necessary that I would have the possibility of choosing the Chef Salad and also the possibility of choosing the Steak Dinner. And it was causally necessary that it would be me, and no other object in the physical universe, that would be making this choice for myself at that restaurant at that time.
Determinism doesn't actually change anything.
For example, in the thought experiment, in which we roll back the clock, the person will have exactly the same thoughts and feelings as they did before.
1. They will start with uncertainty as to what they will do: "Will I choose A or will I choose B. I don't know yet, and I will not know until after I have made my choice".
2. By logical necessity, "I can choose A" will be true and "I can choose B" will also be true.
3. Then the two options will be considered in terms of their likely results. One of them will inevitably seem to produce a better result than the other.
4. We will choose A or B.
5. The one will become the thing we "will" do.
6. The other will become the thing we "could have" done.
Rolling back the clock, the whole series of events, from start to finish, will be repeated, just as before.
There can be no actual uncertainty within a determined system, which by your own (correct) definition, proceeds ''without deviation from the Big Bang to this moment.''
The uncertainty occurred as a necessary event "without deviation from the Big Bang to this moment".
Determinism doesn't actually change anything.
Uncertainty implies the possibility that a different decision or action may be taken. Determinism, by the given definition, permits no different decision or alternate actions.....hence any sense of uncertainty we may feel is a construct of limited access to the underlying interaction of information that is creating our experience and not actual uncertainty.
We are talking about the actual sense of uncertainty felt by the brain at the start of the choosing operation, before the brain decided what it would order for dinner. It is a physical process, an actual event within the brain.
Both the uncertainty and the possibilities were mental events which we presume had corresponding, but more complex, physical processes underlying the mental events.
And, given determinism, both mental events were causally necessary from any prior point in time.
Determinism doesn't actually change anything. We still have uncertainty and we still have multiple possibilities.
No, by your own definition of determinism, there is no possibility of an alternate choice or action. If action A is determined, action B cannot be taken or realized.
Determinism simply asserts that the notion of A as a possibility and the notion of B as another possibility will appear to the mind due to prior causes. And they will show up reliably, exactly when they do, every time we roll back the clock.
And yet the notion that we can choose A and we can choose B will show up reliably within this deterministic process.
Determinism doesn't actually change anything.
The concept of determinism far more than 'reliable causation,' it entails that events must necessarily unfold as determined without deviation.
And everything unfolds without deviation, caused by the interactions of the actual objects and forces involved. Our uncertainty when presented with the menu of multiple options was inevitable. The ability to choose any item for dinner was inevitable. The person actually choosing the Chef Salad from among the many other things they could have chosen was inevitable. And placing the order with the waiter was inevitable.
Determinism doesn't actually change anything.