Why Philosophers Disagree

1993 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 67-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.J.C. Smart
Keyword(s):  
Free Will ◽  
Quantum Mechanical ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
To Come

Why is it that philosophers find it so hard to come to agreement? Many disputes that have gone on for centuries or even millennia are still unresolved, even though there has been increased conceptual sophistication on the part of the contending parties. Consider, for example, the question of free will, where libertarians still contest the field with determinists and compatibilists (who need not deny quantum mechanical indeterminism at the micro level).

Erasmus versus Luther: A Contemporary Analysis of the Debate on Free Will

2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 311-335
Author(s):  
Aku Visala ◽  
Olli-Pekka Vainio
Keyword(s):  
Free Will ◽  
Martin Luther ◽  
Philosophical Theology ◽  
Contemporary Debate ◽  
Will And Grace ◽  
To Come

SummaryIn this article, we will use contemporary analytic tools to make sense of the main arguments in the classic debate on free will between Erasmus of Rotterdam and the Reformer Martin Luther. Instead of offering another exegesis of these texts, we put forward an analysis that links this historical debate with contemporary discussions on free will and grace in philosophical theology. We argue that the debate was ultimately about how three theological core claims are related to one another: the Anti-Pelagian Constraint (humans are incapable of willing any good, in order to come to faith), the Responsibility Principle (humans are morally responsible in the eyes of God) and human free will. Erasmus attacks Luther by arguing that the Responsibility Principle cannot be maintained without free will, while Luther responds by arguing that Erasmus must reject free will, because it is in conflict with the Anti-Pelagian Constraint. Luther is then left with the dilemma of justifying the Responsibility Principle without free will – a task, which in our estimation, fails. In the concluding section of the article, we point out some continuities and discontinuities between the contemporary debate and that of Luther and Erasmus.

The Divided Self in the Fiction of Henry James

PMLA ◽  
1975 ◽  
Vol 90 (3) ◽  
pp. 447-460
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Schneider
Keyword(s):  
Free Will ◽  
Henry James ◽  
Free Spirit ◽  
Divided Self ◽  
Structural Consequence ◽  
The World ◽  
To Come

AbstractThe divided self in James’s fiction may be regarded as an inevitable structural consequence of James’s desire to dramatize the problem of the free spirit in an enslaving world. But the divided self required by art is not essentially different from the divided self known to psychology, and an understanding of the anxieties of that self, particularly of the “obsessive imagery” James uses to depict those anxieties, enriches our understanding of James’s work. The fear of a world that threatens one’s being issues in an elaborate development of an escape motif; of imagery of seizure by the eye and by the world of appearances; and of imagery of petrification, reflecting a dread of being turned into a mere tool or machine. James’s vision of “the great trap of life” permits him to come to terms with his own limitations and culminates in a searching philosophic examination of the problem of free will and determinism.

A statute is divided into: Vocabulary • sections; Repeal— abolition of all or part of a • sub-sections; previous statute. • paragraphs; Amend— changing part of a previous • sub-paragraphs; statute. • Parts; • Schedules (at the end). Parliament can enact laws about anything—but a law may prove impossible to enforce. Legend records that one particular King of England, Canute, was humbled when he attempted to demonstrate his sovereign power by seating his throne on the beach and ordering the tide not to come in! For come in it did, much to his embarrassment. When approaching a statute as a new law student the most difficult task is understanding, at a basic macro- (wide) level, what the statute as a whole is striving to do and at the micro- (narrow) level what each section is saying. As proficiency is gained in handling statutory rules it will be found that it is not usually necessary to deal with the entire statute. The overall statute can be briefly contextualised and only relevant sections need to be extracted for detailed consideration, analysis, or application. However, ‘sections’, those micro-elements of statutes, will be all the more confidently analysed because, at any given moment, it is known how to relate any aspect of the statute to its general layout. Often, initial understanding eludes the law student. Doubts concerning the meaning of parts of the statute do not occur at the level of sophisticated analysis. They occur at the basic level of combining English language skills and legal skills to obtain foundational understanding. If doubts remain at this level, there can be no possibility of attaining sophisticated analysis! 3.4.4 Case study: breaking into statutes 3.4.4.1 Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 To explore methods of breaking into statutes and understanding statutes at the macro- and micro-level the rest of this chapter will deal with a real statute, the Unfair Contract Terms Act (UCTA) 1977. Figure 3.10, below, builds on the abstract general layout of Figure 3.8, above, by customising it to fit UCTA 1977. This statute will continue to be used for demonstration purposes for the rest of the chapter. The full text of the statute can be found in Appendix 1. Study Figure 3.10, below, carefully. Note which parts are linked and which are not by following the lines and arrows. Reading the summarised headings constructs a basic overview of what the statute is about. Before considering how to break into statutory language in such a way as to be able to confidently précis whole sections for the purposes of such a layout, it is important to study the layout until it is familiar and comprehensible. There are no shortcuts; this takes time.

2012 ◽  
pp. 58-59
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Detailed Consideration ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
To Come ◽  
Law Student ◽  
Micro Elements ◽  
Basic Level ◽  
Sophisticated Analysis

scholarly journals PROLIFERATION OF OBSERVABLES AND MEASUREMENT IN QUANTUM-CLASSICAL HYBRIDS

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (08) ◽  
pp. 1241012 ◽  
Author(s):  
HANS-THOMAS ELZE
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Free Will ◽  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Cartesian Product ◽  
Entangled States ◽  
Quantum Mechanical ◽  
Analytical Mechanics ◽  
Hybrid Dynamics

Following a review of quantum-classical hybrid dynamics, we discuss the ensuing proliferation of observables and relate it to measurements of (would-be) quantum mechanical degrees of freedom performed by (would-be) classical ones (if they were separable). Hybrids consist in coupled classical (CL) and quantum mechanical (QM) objects. Numerous consistency requirements for their description have been discussed and are fulfilled here. We summarize a representation of quantum mechanics in terms of classical analytical mechanics which is naturally extended to QM–CL hybrids. This framework allows for superposition, separable, and entangled states originating in the QM sector, admits experimenter's "Free Will", and is local and nonsignaling. Presently, we study the set of hybrid observables, which is larger than the Cartesian product of QM and CL observables of its components; yet it is smaller than a corresponding product of all-classical observables. Thus, quantumness and classicality infect each other.

Quantum Physics Takes Free Will into Account

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ignacio Cirac ◽  
Adolfo Plasencia
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Theory ◽  
Free Will ◽  
Quantum Physics ◽  
Quantum Computer ◽  
Theoretical Description ◽  
Trapped Ions ◽  
Theory Of Relativity ◽  
Max Planck ◽  
Quantum Architecture ◽  
To Come

In this dialogue, the physicist Ignacio Cirac, director of the Theoretical Division of the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics, outlines why quantum physics has brought about a much greater change than that caused by Einstein’s theory of relativity, how quantum physics takes free will into account and how it combines with philosophy. He describes why quantum theory defines “everything else,” yet is unable to define itself. Explaining how, together with Peter Zoller, he developed and presented the first theoretical description of a quantum computing architecture based on trapped ions, and, how this quantum architecture will be viable and capable of performing calculations we cannot perform at present. Their quantum computer calculates in qubits, which would require at least 100,000 qubits to function, rising to 1,000,000 if error correction is implemented. It will be able to perform calculations previously unachievable and create encrypted messages impossible to decipher. Building a functional quantum computer still requires a huge technological change, which has yet to come about. Lastly, Cirac explains the differences between European and American visions of science and why mathematicians are even more conservative than physicists.

Getting Closer to Nature

2012 ◽  
pp. 322-336
Author(s):  
James Faure Walker
Keyword(s):  
Computer Modeling ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
Art And Science ◽  
Hybrid Form ◽  
Pattern Design ◽  
Naked Eye ◽  
Generative Processes ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
To Come ◽  
Biology Lab

The term bio art has emerged in the past few years to cover the kind of art that seems to come from the biology lab, with simulations of life forms through generative processes, with data taken from organisms, or even through organisms themselves. This is often at the micro level, invisible to the naked eye, where seeing requires some degree of computer modeling. This could be a hybrid form, serving the interests of both art and science, but recent exhibitions have prompted some debate about the divergent roles of art and science. Rob Kesseler and Andrew Carnie are artists who have worked alongside biologists to produce visual works of extraordinary quality, in both their decorative and intellectual aspects. They follow in a long tradition of artists who have been fascinated by the close-up detail. Drawing manuals of a hundred years ago advocated the study of plant forms, sometimes as the basis for pattern design. The author describes his own use of scientific sources, arguing that there is also a place for art that evokes the wonders of nature without being tied to the visible facts.

Determined to Come Most Freely

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 272-297
Author(s):  
James N. Anderson ◽  
Paul Manata
Keyword(s):  
Moral Responsibility ◽  
Free Will ◽  
Human Freedom ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
To Come ◽  
Opening Up ◽  
Libertarian Free Will ◽  
Rule Out

It is commonly held that Calvinism is committed to theological determinism, and therefore also to compatibilism insofar as Calvinism affirms human freedom and moral responsibility. Recent scholarship has challenged this view, opening up space for a form of Calvinism that allows for libertarian free will. In this article we critically assess two versions of ‘libertarian Calvinism’ recently proposed by Oliver Crisp. We contend that Calvinism (defined along the confessional lines adopted by Crisp) is implicitly committed to theological determinism, and even if it were not so committed, it would still rule out libertarian free will on other grounds.

Dialogues about Emergence

KronoScope ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-135
Author(s):  
Rémy Lestienne
Keyword(s):  
Free Will ◽  
Charles Darwin ◽  
Specific Effect ◽  
Elementary Particles ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
James Clerk Maxwell ◽  
Famous Book ◽  
Nature Of Time ◽  
To Come ◽  
The Brain

What is Emergence? Some scientists nowadays have revitalized this already old idea, according to which, when one climbs the ladders of complexity, from elementary particles to galaxies and amebas to humankind, new properties appear. “The whole is more than the sum of its parts,” they say. Some among them even refer to a specific effect of the whole on the parts: Do not our conscious decisions change what the neurons in our brain do, thereby justifying our free will? Going beyond the old scientific ideal of reductionism, this revival of emergence augurs a revolution to come, somewhat similar to that which occurred when Galileo argued for the inversion of the old cosmology to adopt the Copernican point of view. Here thus the return of the three protagonists of the famous book of Galileo, brought up to date: Sagredo, Simplicio, and Salviata. Each day during a certain spring in Paris, they go to Saint Germain des Près, the museum of the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers, and so forth. They meet there famous scientists, such as James Clerk Maxwell, Charles Darwin, Ilya Prigogine, or Roger Sperry. With them, they discuss emergence in their respective disciplines. By listening to them, one can measure the formidable challenges of this new debate for science and philosophy and better understand phenomena as various as the shape of molecules, the workings of the brain, or, perhaps more importantly, the nature of time.

Free Will and Quantum Mechanics

The Monist ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 103 (4) ◽  
pp. 415-426
Author(s):  
Mario De Caro ◽  
Hilary Putnam
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Free Will ◽  
Uncertainty Principle ◽  
The Other ◽  
Quantum Mechanical ◽  
Quantum Jumps ◽  
Seminal Work ◽  
Single Atoms ◽  
The Way

Abstract In the last few decades, the relevance of quantum mechanics to the free-will debate has been discussed at length, especially in relation to the prospects of libertarianism (the view according to which humans enjoy an indeterministic kind of free will). Basing his interpretation on Anscombe’s seminal work, Putnam argued in 1979 that, given that quantum mechanical indeterminacy is holistic at the macrolevel—i.e., it is not traceable to atomistic events such as quantum jumps of single atoms—it can provide libertarians with the kind of freedom they seek. As shown in this article, however, Putnam ultimately reached the conclusion—together with the other author of this article—that his argument was wrong due to problems with the way it appealed to the Uncertainty Principle.**

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