Determinism should not be confused with self-determination

Question

Determinism (specifically causal determinism) is the concept that events within a given paradigm are bound by causality in such a way that any state (of an object or event) is, to some large degree, determined by prior states.

Determinism should not be confused with self-determination of human actions by reasons, motives, and desires, or with predestination, which specifically factors the existence of God into its tenets.
[Wikipedia]

Isn't self-determination and free will the same thing?
Isn't self-determination a subset of determinism?

Could you please help me with this in a plain language? Thank you.

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,
Determinism (specifically causal determinism) is the concept that events within a given paradigm are bound by causality in such a way that any state (of an object or event) is, to some large degree, determined by prior states.

Determinism should not be confused with self-determination of human actions by reasons, motives, and desires, or with predestination, which specifically factors the existence of *** into its tenets.
[Wikipedia]

Isn't self-determination and free will the same thing? Sounds like it, doesn't it?

Isn't self-determination a subset of determinism?

Could you please help me with this in a plain language? These are deep philosophical and even perhaps religious matters that you are considering. They are hard to discuss in simple terms. My feeling is that each person needs to try to find their own thoughts and views on this, by reading widely and thinking thoughtfully.

Let me end by asking you this. Why did you write your email about this? Were other courses of action really possible? eg Having a nap? Reading a book?

Clive

CalifJim · Answer

Jackson6612Isn't self-determination and free will the same thing?

Without quoting 20 or more philosophical works on the topic, yes, they are more or less the same for many who have thought deeply about it.

Jackson6612Isn't self-determination a subset of determinism?

I suppose it can be, in a way, but these concepts aren't often talked about in terms of subsets because they proceed from entirely different premisses and points of view. You might say that you have to think at the level of atoms to think about determinism and at the level of people to think about self-determination.

Determinism says that everything (which is to say, every effect) has a cause. The term is found in philosophy and science.

Self-determination says that we (human agents) are the cause of our own decisions and behavior. The term is found in philosophy, ethics, and perhaps law.

(Predestination is a completely religious concept that says that *** arranged the universe in such a way when he created it that there is only one set of things that can happen. All the events in the universe simply unfold in time in exactly the manner *** already built them into the universe when he created it. The significance of this conception of the universe for religious people is that it means that some people will go to heaven when they die and others will go to ****, and there is really nothing either of the groups can do about it during their lifetimes because *** has already made that decision. I have no idea how many people today believe in predestination, but it used to be quite widely believed among some groups hundreds of years ago.)

CJ

Determinism should not be confused with self-determination

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions