In Stace’s “Compatibilism” he makes quite a few eloquent points against the hard determinist and libertarian views, I agree with Stace for several reasons, first of which because of the argument he makes at the very beginning of his explanation.
Stace makes a generalization which I agree with and surmises in my view the first of his arguments perfectly, he makes use of the example of philosophers claiming to believe in hard determinism or libertarian principles academically but not actually practicing them. His point is made in the example where he points out that in doing anything “practical” such men would act under the assumption that they or other people around them are making decisions and do so based on reasoning and cause. This generalizes …show more content…
His application where he points out that if someone were to be predicted to lie based on previous causes leading up to a moment, and they did actually lie, they are still freely making that decision to lie because it is based on their personal desires which if they were different would alter the choice. This rationale to separate the idea of freedom of choice by pointing out the difference between power to make a decision and to recognize a decision is powerful and does serve to strengthen his position. He points out that free will and predictability are compatible with an example of expecting an honourable man to act honourably and how common sense would still dictate the man is choosing to act with honour. The idea of a separation between types of freedoms of choice is a recurring theme in the three schools of thought all of which generally accept the kind of freedom which Stace refers to as free will but is generally called the freedom of “self-realisation” or the knowledge of an ability to make a choice. The other kind of freedom is what philosophers would call free will traditionally and is the power to actually carry out either choice in a situation regardless of circumstance. It is this latter idea of freedom which defies determinism and which Stace doesn’t believe in, he does not think, however, it is necessary to have in order …show more content…
In Stace’s view the idea of justification for punishment and praise is defined by determinism itself as he points out with the example of punishing someone for a crime and it’s necessity not only if it helps to stop that person from committing that same crime again but also works as a deterrent to others who might consider committing the same crime. I whole-heartedly agree with this statement so long as the person is predictably going to re-offend or could be seen to encourage others to offend. This is reflected as a recurring theme in the core beliefs of the Canadian prison and judicial systems which focus on restitution and rehabilitation rather than retribution. Stace makes reference to the idea that determinism is based on the scientific study of causality and its application to humans and that if it were, in fact, to apply that much like Pavlov’s dogs humans could be psychologically conditioned to avoid or repeat behaviours via punishment or praise and that if it leads to a better life for others or the subject then it is
Stace makes a generalization which I agree with and surmises in my view the first of his arguments perfectly, he makes use of the example of philosophers claiming to believe in hard determinism or libertarian principles academically but not actually practicing them. His point is made in the example where he points out that in doing anything “practical” such men would act under the assumption that they or other people around them are making decisions and do so based on reasoning and cause. This generalizes …show more content…
His application where he points out that if someone were to be predicted to lie based on previous causes leading up to a moment, and they did actually lie, they are still freely making that decision to lie because it is based on their personal desires which if they were different would alter the choice. This rationale to separate the idea of freedom of choice by pointing out the difference between power to make a decision and to recognize a decision is powerful and does serve to strengthen his position. He points out that free will and predictability are compatible with an example of expecting an honourable man to act honourably and how common sense would still dictate the man is choosing to act with honour. The idea of a separation between types of freedoms of choice is a recurring theme in the three schools of thought all of which generally accept the kind of freedom which Stace refers to as free will but is generally called the freedom of “self-realisation” or the knowledge of an ability to make a choice. The other kind of freedom is what philosophers would call free will traditionally and is the power to actually carry out either choice in a situation regardless of circumstance. It is this latter idea of freedom which defies determinism and which Stace doesn’t believe in, he does not think, however, it is necessary to have in order …show more content…
In Stace’s view the idea of justification for punishment and praise is defined by determinism itself as he points out with the example of punishing someone for a crime and it’s necessity not only if it helps to stop that person from committing that same crime again but also works as a deterrent to others who might consider committing the same crime. I whole-heartedly agree with this statement so long as the person is predictably going to re-offend or could be seen to encourage others to offend. This is reflected as a recurring theme in the core beliefs of the Canadian prison and judicial systems which focus on restitution and rehabilitation rather than retribution. Stace makes reference to the idea that determinism is based on the scientific study of causality and its application to humans and that if it were, in fact, to apply that much like Pavlov’s dogs humans could be psychologically conditioned to avoid or repeat behaviours via punishment or praise and that if it leads to a better life for others or the subject then it is