The baby chick ventures from the nest for the first time and say’s, “look ma I can fly,” and the chicken hawk say’s, “lunch!”
The baby seal practicing its swimming say’s, “I can swim,” and the orca say’s, “I can eat.”
The young uni student say’s to his professor, “look doc I can think,” and the professor responds, “think again.”
Are these examples of free will or self-determination in nature- including human nature? Is there a difference?
Is there a difference between free will and self-determination? Or is it a case of a rose by any other name?
I find nowhere in self-determination where it is stated or implied that my self-determination ends at the point of your nose. (This is the Judeo-Christian concept of fair play that is entering the argument. Marcus of Queensbury rules, and all that.) More often than not, it ends when your nose submits to my fist or the star footballer gets crushed when the ref isn’t looking. This is the nature of the alpha, survival and mating process in nature played out in school yards everywhere. Is it possible to naturally evolve to the point where we are living in “self-determination” where we can ascribe to “free will” something more – like altruism and virtue. Or are these qualities that can only be ascribed to a spiritual dimension?
2 comments:
Good point. I'll have to consider this a bit more deeply. David Hume makes the same point. Perhaps it is a process of intellect. Are we born Tabula Rosetta, or are their imaprted pices of knowledge at birth. Hume says it is instinct, John Locke says we are born with a clear slate of the brain. What do yot think? Daniel Rea
Daniel, Thank you for your comment. I think it is "ESP." Now I know what you are going to say, but think about it. We are so comfortable with somethings and some people and yet not with others. "People have a feeling," and get off a boat or plane that will be destroyed. A tribe in Southeast Asia doesn't have tools for cutting down trees. What do they do? They walk around the tree cursing it. It dies, they cart it away. A mother "knows" her child is in trouble or has died. I think that we have a natural communication device within ourselves that naturally warns us of danger or safety and it is that sub-conscious communication that assists the smooth flow in a society - like Japan. (This is the short view.)
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