Student Question
According to William James, what are the unpleasant implications of determinism? Do you agree with his assessment?
Quick answer:
William James defined determinism as a lack of choice, with every part of the universe designed to follow an exact and unchanging path. The implications of this mean humanity has no control over its future and that concepts like morality and justice are pointless. However, James argues reality is actually indeterministic, and therefore the implications of determinism should not be seen as menacing since they are only hypothetical.
Late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century American philosopher William James laid forth the definitions of both "determinism" and "indeterminism" in his treatise The Dilemma of Determinism.
The former, he suggests, declares that all "those parts of the universe already laid down absolutely appoint and decree what the other parts shall be." In other words, everything exists for a purpose and is essential to that purpose; some call a future that has been predetermined "fate." This means anything that lies outside of this predetermined plan is a sheer impossibility, and those who argue that certain possibilities that could have materialized did not are simply tricked into believing an illusion.
He notes that indeterminism is characterized by those same parts of the universe having "a certain amount of loose play on one another, so that the laying down of one of them does not necessarily determine what the others shall be." He factors in...
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the notion of "chance," acknowledging it in terms of probability—that one outcome may be more likely than the other—but yet still conceding that in a world where we can conceive of two different outcomes, both are truly possible. Unlike determinism, choice and possibility are not illusions.
Some might see James's assessment of determinism as "menacing" insofar as humanity is viewed as simply beholden to the whims of some unseen puppet master. Any sense of fear this inhibits often comes from people's desire for control as well as conceptions about worst case scenarios, akin to being trapped in a fiery airplane that's hurdling toward the ground. Moreover, things like morality, legality, regret, or remorse for one's actions become irrelevant in a deterministic world since such concepts are predicated upon choice. Ideas like justice, ethics and the difference between "right" and "wrong" become moot.
However, it should be noted that James was a fierce proponent of indeterminism, believing that all living beings were inherently gifted with free will. Therefore, his assessment of determinism was merely a philosophical counterpoint to a reality grounded in choice, in human control, relegating much of the grim undertones of determinism as hypothetical and indeterminism as ontological.
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