Newtonian physics and Einstein’s theory of relativity are deterministic & quite different from each other. Quantum mechanics is probabilistic & uncertain and can’t be reconciled with Einstein’s theory. Animal behavior is probabilistic & self-interested. So how do you get determinism out of all this?
If you are determined to be a determinist you are going to be pretty lousy at arguing for determinism.
Physicalists famously argue that everything is "physical". Yet they can’t define the word “physical” or distinguish it from the non-physical. If everything is physical and nothing is non-physical, the word “physical” doesn’t mean anything and physicalism has no explanatory value.
Thank you Christian for your kind reply. I agree that even if determinism is true, Free Will still must exist on a higher level. But determinism seems like a childish belief in the omnipotence of cause & effect. It violates the laws of physics unless one believes in hidden variables or many worlds.
My other point is that I think you give too much credence to determinism. Arguing that the universe is deterministic is speculative metaphysics. Science can't ever establish that. But we do know that we perceive our universe as probabilistic & that is entirely compatible with Free Will and physics.
You are 100% right on Free Will. We not only have it, but we couldn’t survive without it. But the definition of Free Will is too narrow. Our acts have both conscious & unconscious motives. Yet we always act as a being in our own interests. And we may act freely even without conscious intentionality.
2. There is a simpler explanation for free will. Individual biological organisms must make decisions constantly to survive in a dynamic environment. They make those decisions in their own subjectively perceived self interest. So they do what they want in real time. That is the essence of free will.
1 You show that free will at the level of biological organisms is true regardless of whether our universe is deterministic. Whether the universe is deterministic is a matter of pure metaphysical speculation. And we experience the universe as probabilistic which is entirely consistent with free will.
A multi-level description of human & animal agency versus a molecular/quantum mechanical level that you presume may be deterministic is shared by @seanmcarroll.bsky.social. In any case, it's true that free will exists at the level of animal behavior because we could not act or survive without it.
Determinism is childish ideology that views people as machines & flies in the face of evolution, everyday experience and the obvious fact that the choices we make are driven by our own individual needs and goals. We react to, make decisions about & change our environment in every hour of every day.
