Q&A: The Foolish Circle of Determinism
The Foolish Circle of Determinism
Question
Hello Rabbi,
One of the arguments against determinism is that if we have no capacity for choice at all, then it follows that I also have no choice, for example, whether to accept the laws of physics or not. From this it follows that the way I arrive at the conclusion that determinism is true is not my choice. If so, then determinism is baseless. You gave an example with the question: are water molecules intelligent? After all, they operate according to equations that nobody can solve, yet they still know exactly where to flow.
But the same would seem to apply to accepting the equation 1+1=2: I have no choice whether to accept it or not. I simply see the equation and it is self-evident, whether I want to accept it or not.
I wanted to ask: why does the fact that we have no choice in accepting our scientific theories mean that determinism is baseless?
Answer
This is a very subtle argument. If you are a deterministic machine, then all your conclusions are forced upon you. They are not the result of judgment, but of mechanical computation, and its results depend on the quality of the “computer.” Therefore, a determinist should not take any of his own conclusions seriously. But determinism itself would seemingly be an exception, because if I reject it on the grounds that I am a deterministic machine and therefore my conclusions should not be trusted, then either way, I have still arrived at the conclusion that I am a deterministic machine. I believe I dealt with this argument in my book The Science of Freedom.
But as for the laws of science and the rest of our intellectual conclusions: if you are a determinist, they have no validity, as I explained.
As for the claim that 1+1=2, it is forced upon you because it is necessarily true (and your judgment recognizes this), not because you are a deterministic machine.
“Therefore, a determinist should not take any of his own conclusions seriously.”
The experiments show that most people were mistaken and are mistaken. And that is enough not to take conclusions seriously. It has nothing to do with determinism.
For example, opponents of determinism take their belief seriously for emotional reasons, even though they are mistaken about reality.