Tag: determinism

A daguerreotype of F. W. J. Schelling from 1848, the first known photograph of a philosopher.

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Part 1 of 2 (Part 2 here)

1. Introduction: A Philosophical Rebel

This essay is a continuation of my series on “Heidegger’s History of Metaphysics.” With Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling (1775-1854) we have reached a significant milestone, in a number of ways. Behind us, in our journey toward Gelassenheit, we have Plato, the philosophers of the Middle Ages, Descartes, Leibniz, Kant, and Fichte. Ahead of Schelling we have only two more philosophers to discuss, Hegel and Nietzsche, before we turn to cover in more detail Heidegger’s response to the metaphysical tradition and to modernity. (more…)

2,053 words

Gattaca (1997) is a dystopian science fiction movie set sometime in the mid-21st century. Mankind is doing a lot of manned space exploration. Genetic engineering and zygote selection have eliminated major and minor genetic problems, from mental illness to baldness. As a smiling black man who works as a eugenics counselor explains to a pair of prospective parents, the children produced by these techniques “are still you, just the best of you.” (more…)

Gustav Klimt, Death and Life, 1915

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Twenty years ago I remember being absolutely outraged by an acquaintance, an M.D. by trade, who told me he was a strict biological determinist. Everything about us, he related to me over coffee, was attributable to heredity. I was flabbergasted – and indignant. Especially because he insisted that his position left no room at all for freedom of will, which he regarded as a myth. (more…)

Leonardo Da Vinci, Vitruvian Man

5,572 words

This essay begins my introduction to one of the single most treacherous topics in modern political life.

That topic is essentially a scientific one, rather than a political one—although in order to see this we may have to put some very prevalent philosophical and political misconceptions aside. As such, this series is going to be somewhat more dry in tone than some of my other writing—certainly much more than many of the other essays collected at Counter-Currents.  (more…)

1,352 words

English original here

Μετάφραση/απόδοση, για το Ιδεάπολις, του Νίκου Καρατουλιώτη

Ελεύθερη βούληση σημαίνει ότι έχεις να διαλέξεις μεταξύ πραγματικών επιλογών. Δεν έχει σημασία τι επιλογή θα κάνει κάποιος, ο καθένας μπορεί να επιλέξει διαφορετικά. Αιτιοκρατία (ντετερμινισμός) σημαίνει ότι δεν έχουμε πραγματικές επιλογές. Όταν κάποιος επιλέξει, δεν θα μπορούσε να έχει επιλέξει αλλιώς.  (more…)

Isis como Agathe Tyche y Osiris como Agathos Daimon en forma de serpiente

1,382 words

English original here

Tener libre albedrio significa tener verdaderas opciones de las cuales elegir. No importa que opción uno pueda elegir, uno pudo haber elegido de forma diferente. El determino significa que no tenemos dos opciones reales. Cuando uno elegí, uno no podría haber elegido de forma diferente.

Incluso si uno tiene libre albedrio, no todas las decisiones son libres. (more…)

Isis as Agathe Tyche and Osiris as Agathos Daimon in serpent form

1,319 words

Translations: Greek, Spanish

Having free will means having real options to choose from. No matter what option one may choose, one could have chosen otherwise. Determinism means that we do not have real options. When one chooses, one could not have chosen otherwise.

Even if one has free will, not every choice is free. (more…)

Norns by J. L. Lund (1777-1867)

4,683 words

English original here

1. O Problema

Nós temos “livre-arbítrio”? Certamente isso me parece que eu livremente escolho o que eu faço em vida, com respeito a coisas tanto maiores quanto menores. Minha decisão de graduar no colégio, por exemplo, certamente parece ter sido feito livremente, sem nenhuma coerção de outros. (more…)

Norns by J. L. Lund (1777-1867)

4,748 words

Portuguese translation here

1. The Problem

Do we have “free will”? It certainly seems to me that I freely choose what I do in life, with respect to things both major and minor. My decision to go to graduate school, for example, certainly seems to have been one that I made freely, without anyone or anything coercing me. (more…)