Lagroht Posted August 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2009 Determinism is the view that every event, including human cognition, behavior, decision, and action, is causally determined by an unbroken chain of prior occurrences. Genetic determinism says that your actions are caused by your genes. Both notions are false since both deny human volition. Your human physiology is a result of your genes but even your existence was subject to your parent's choice. Genes determine nothing important, they may limit the actions available to us in certain ways, such as the fact that we can't fly but even that limitation can be overcome by human choice and ingenuity. Ok, that kind of determinism. Don't you find it interesting how the position people hold on the notion of 'free will' is so important to determining their moral judgement?, I even have the impression the whole left-right political divide is roughly based on it (with the left leaning towards 'there is no free will, determinism' and the right to 'free will exists'). In my opinion the only sad thing about the right is that it seems to base its conviction that free will exists on some philosophical idealist grounds, which explains the union of the right with religion. I've posted some thoughts on free will in two other threads http://forum.ObjectivismOnline.com/index.p...mp;#entry165486 http://forum.ObjectivismOnline.com/index.p...mp;#entry189074 ...But I think I am getting off topic, I will stop posting in this thread, thanks for your responses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruveyn1 Posted January 17, 2013 Report Share Posted January 17, 2013 (edited) So you are saying that because you will die you should attempt to live on in your children? Rather second-handed don't you think? Having children is a way of promoting your values (not guaranteed to work, by the way). It is not necessarily living one through one's children. I think Ragnar was in -Atlas Shrugged- because Ayn Rand had a thing about Vikings. ruveyn1 Edited January 17, 2013 by ruveyn1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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