Gregg,Thank you for sharing.
I am happy to see how comfortable Christian Smith is with defending free will. "
By person I mean a conscious, reflective, embodied, self-transcending center of subjective experience, durable identity, ...who—as the efficient cause of his or her own responsible actions and interactions…"
You also quoted Edward O Wilson, who I didn’t understand very well 40 years ago. His fairly recent book The Meaning of Human Existence nicely outlines his faith in human autonomy of choice. Without freedom, Wilson contends, a conscious mind would be without purpose. Coming from a man of science, this is refreshing.
Within the last few years I reread BF Skinner’s philosophy of behaviorism, About Behaviorism, and Beyond Freedom & Dignity. In this books Skinner claims we do not have free will, saying that we are shaped by the contingencies of our environment and the only means for changing one’s behavior is to change their environment. He then concedes that we can change our own environments, serving as controller of our behavior. I change my environment every time I read a book. Go for a walk. Ask someone a question...
My question to you, do you differ with Smith’s and Wilson's defense of free will?
Thank you again,
Peter
Peter Lloyd Jones
562-209-4080
Sent by determined causes that no amount of will is able to thwart.
Hi TOK Folks,
Please check out this blog I put up today on the ontology of human persons:
___________________________________________
Gregg Henriques, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Graduate Psychology
216 Johnston Hall
MSC 7401
James Madison University
Harrisonburg, VA 22807
(540) 568-7857 (phone)
(540) 568-4747 (fax)
Be that which enhances dignity and well-being with integrity.
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