Mathematical Metaphysics: Modelling Determinism and Free-Will Along the Lines of Theological Compatibilism

Joseph Ivin Thomas

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijp.20190702.18

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Mathematical Metaphysics: Modelling Determinism and Free-Will Along the Lines of Theological Compatibilism

Joseph Ivin Thomas

Published in International Journal of Philosophy (Volume 7, Issue 2)

Received: 1 March 2019 Accepted: 28 April 2019 Published: 12 July 2019

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Abstract

In this paper, an attempt is made to lay a systematic framework that helps answer a deeply perplexing philosophical question: “Can blind obedience to a set of immutable laws of nature pose a sufficient explanation for all phenomena in the world?” From the perspective of the human person, this question can be re-phrased as follows: “Do the events in a person’s life happen because they are pre-determined to do so, or is there some role for free-will to operate?” More succinctly stated, “Is the principle of determinism or the faculty for free-will responsible for the occurrence of an event?” An acceptable answer to these difficult questions must first require a better understanding of what precisely the terms determinism and free-will mean. In religion and mythology, the doctrine of determinism is embodied in an equivalent notion called destiny, which may be defined as a pre-ordained, inescapable, inevitable event. An accident, on the other hand, is a purely random and unpredictable event with neither intent nor design backing its occurrence. Religion holds that there are no such things as accidents and that every event is infused with divine purpose. Paradoxically, religion (Christianity, in particular) holds dear man’s capacity for free-will, which is in direct contradiction to the idea of destiny. How can free-will be truly free, if everything is already determined? Science too, is in a similar muddle on the problem of free-will, because it is still unsure whether the universe, the human mind included, runs on a deterministic or an indeterministic basis. After exploring the opinions gathered from diverse fragments of human knowledge (Philosophy, Physics, Neuroscience, Literature, Religion), two novel frameworks that are grounded in mathematical rigor are forwarded which fits both determinism and free-will into a single, indivisible philosophical paradigm.

Published in	International Journal of Philosophy (Volume 7, Issue 2)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijp.20190702.18
Page(s)	93-106
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2019. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Determinism, Free-Will, Causality, Natural Law, Probability

References

[1]	Pereboom, Derk (2001) Living without Free Will. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[2]	Kane, Robert (2003) Free Will: New Directions for an Ancient Problem. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
[3]	Saul Smilansky (2000) Free Will and Illusion, Oxford.
[4]	McKenna, Michael and Coates, D. Justin “Compatibilism”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2018 Edition).
[5]	Lewis, C. S. (1947). Miracles; a preliminary study.
[6]	White, Graham, "Medieval Theories of Causation", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2018 Edition).
[7]	Bohm, D. (2004). Causality and chance in modern physics. Routledge.
[8]	B. Libet (1999). Do we have free-will? Journal of consciousness studies, 6(8-9), 47-57.
[9]	S. Hameroff (2012). How quantum brain biology can rescue conscious free will. Frontiers in integrative neuroscience, 6, 93.
[10]	S. Hameroff (1998). Quantum computation in brain microtubules? The Penrose–Hameroff ‘Orch OR ‘model of consciousness. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 356(1743), 1869-1896.
[11]	Popper, K. R., & Eccles, J. C. (2012). The self and its brain. Springer Science & Business Media.
[12]	Chalmers, D. J. (2010). The character of consciousness. Oxford University Press.
[13]	Kane, R. (Ed.). (2011). The Oxford handbook of free will. OUP USA.
[14]	Oedipus: King of Thebes. Oxford University Press, American Branch, 1911.

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Joseph Ivin Thomas. (2019). Mathematical Metaphysics: Modelling Determinism and Free-Will Along the Lines of Theological Compatibilism. International Journal of Philosophy, 7(2), 93-106. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20190702.18

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Joseph Ivin Thomas. Mathematical Metaphysics: Modelling Determinism and Free-Will Along the Lines of Theological Compatibilism. Int. J. Philos. 2019, 7(2), 93-106. doi: 10.11648/j.ijp.20190702.18

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AMA Style

Joseph Ivin Thomas. Mathematical Metaphysics: Modelling Determinism and Free-Will Along the Lines of Theological Compatibilism. Int J Philos. 2019;7(2):93-106. doi: 10.11648/j.ijp.20190702.18

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@article{10.11648/j.ijp.20190702.18,
  author = {Joseph Ivin Thomas},
  title = {Mathematical Metaphysics: Modelling Determinism and Free-Will Along the Lines of Theological Compatibilism},
  journal = {International Journal of Philosophy},
  volume = {7},
  number = {2},
  pages = {93-106},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijp.20190702.18},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20190702.18},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijp.20190702.18},
  abstract = {In this paper, an attempt is made to lay a systematic framework that helps answer a deeply perplexing philosophical question: “Can blind obedience to a set of immutable laws of nature pose a sufficient explanation for all phenomena in the world?” From the perspective of the human person, this question can be re-phrased as follows: “Do the events in a person’s life happen because they are pre-determined to do so, or is there some role for free-will to operate?” More succinctly stated, “Is the principle of determinism or the faculty for free-will responsible for the occurrence of an event?” An acceptable answer to these difficult questions must first require a better understanding of what precisely the terms determinism and free-will mean. In religion and mythology, the doctrine of determinism is embodied in an equivalent notion called destiny, which may be defined as a pre-ordained, inescapable, inevitable event. An accident, on the other hand, is a purely random and unpredictable event with neither intent nor design backing its occurrence. Religion holds that there are no such things as accidents and that every event is infused with divine purpose. Paradoxically, religion (Christianity, in particular) holds dear man’s capacity for free-will, which is in direct contradiction to the idea of destiny. How can free-will be truly free, if everything is already determined? Science too, is in a similar muddle on the problem of free-will, because it is still unsure whether the universe, the human mind included, runs on a deterministic or an indeterministic basis. After exploring the opinions gathered from diverse fragments of human knowledge (Philosophy, Physics, Neuroscience, Literature, Religion), two novel frameworks that are grounded in mathematical rigor are forwarded which fits both determinism and free-will into a single, indivisible philosophical paradigm.},
 year = {2019}
}

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Joseph Ivin Thomas

School of Natural Sciences & Engineering, National Institute of Advanced Studies, IISc Campus, Bangalore, India

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Joseph Ivin Thomas. (2019). Mathematical Metaphysics: Modelling Determinism and Free-Will Along the Lines of Theological Compatibilism. International Journal of Philosophy, 7(2), 93-106. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20190702.18

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ACS Style

Joseph Ivin Thomas. Mathematical Metaphysics: Modelling Determinism and Free-Will Along the Lines of Theological Compatibilism. Int. J. Philos. 2019, 7(2), 93-106. doi: 10.11648/j.ijp.20190702.18

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AMA Style

Joseph Ivin Thomas. Mathematical Metaphysics: Modelling Determinism and Free-Will Along the Lines of Theological Compatibilism. Int J Philos. 2019;7(2):93-106. doi: 10.11648/j.ijp.20190702.18

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@article{10.11648/j.ijp.20190702.18,
  author = {Joseph Ivin Thomas},
  title = {Mathematical Metaphysics: Modelling Determinism and Free-Will Along the Lines of Theological Compatibilism},
  journal = {International Journal of Philosophy},
  volume = {7},
  number = {2},
  pages = {93-106},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijp.20190702.18},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20190702.18},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijp.20190702.18},
  abstract = {In this paper, an attempt is made to lay a systematic framework that helps answer a deeply perplexing philosophical question: “Can blind obedience to a set of immutable laws of nature pose a sufficient explanation for all phenomena in the world?” From the perspective of the human person, this question can be re-phrased as follows: “Do the events in a person’s life happen because they are pre-determined to do so, or is there some role for free-will to operate?” More succinctly stated, “Is the principle of determinism or the faculty for free-will responsible for the occurrence of an event?” An acceptable answer to these difficult questions must first require a better understanding of what precisely the terms determinism and free-will mean. In religion and mythology, the doctrine of determinism is embodied in an equivalent notion called destiny, which may be defined as a pre-ordained, inescapable, inevitable event. An accident, on the other hand, is a purely random and unpredictable event with neither intent nor design backing its occurrence. Religion holds that there are no such things as accidents and that every event is infused with divine purpose. Paradoxically, religion (Christianity, in particular) holds dear man’s capacity for free-will, which is in direct contradiction to the idea of destiny. How can free-will be truly free, if everything is already determined? Science too, is in a similar muddle on the problem of free-will, because it is still unsure whether the universe, the human mind included, runs on a deterministic or an indeterministic basis. After exploring the opinions gathered from diverse fragments of human knowledge (Philosophy, Physics, Neuroscience, Literature, Religion), two novel frameworks that are grounded in mathematical rigor are forwarded which fits both determinism and free-will into a single, indivisible philosophical paradigm.},
 year = {2019}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Mathematical Metaphysics: Modelling Determinism and Free-Will Along the Lines of Theological Compatibilism
AU  - Joseph Ivin Thomas
Y1  - 2019/07/12
PY  - 2019
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20190702.18
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijp.20190702.18
T2  - International Journal of Philosophy
JF  - International Journal of Philosophy
JO  - International Journal of Philosophy
SP  - 93
EP  - 106
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-7455
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20190702.18
AB  - In this paper, an attempt is made to lay a systematic framework that helps answer a deeply perplexing philosophical question: “Can blind obedience to a set of immutable laws of nature pose a sufficient explanation for all phenomena in the world?” From the perspective of the human person, this question can be re-phrased as follows: “Do the events in a person’s life happen because they are pre-determined to do so, or is there some role for free-will to operate?” More succinctly stated, “Is the principle of determinism or the faculty for free-will responsible for the occurrence of an event?” An acceptable answer to these difficult questions must first require a better understanding of what precisely the terms determinism and free-will mean. In religion and mythology, the doctrine of determinism is embodied in an equivalent notion called destiny, which may be defined as a pre-ordained, inescapable, inevitable event. An accident, on the other hand, is a purely random and unpredictable event with neither intent nor design backing its occurrence. Religion holds that there are no such things as accidents and that every event is infused with divine purpose. Paradoxically, religion (Christianity, in particular) holds dear man’s capacity for free-will, which is in direct contradiction to the idea of destiny. How can free-will be truly free, if everything is already determined? Science too, is in a similar muddle on the problem of free-will, because it is still unsure whether the universe, the human mind included, runs on a deterministic or an indeterministic basis. After exploring the opinions gathered from diverse fragments of human knowledge (Philosophy, Physics, Neuroscience, Literature, Religion), two novel frameworks that are grounded in mathematical rigor are forwarded which fits both determinism and free-will into a single, indivisible philosophical paradigm.
VL  - 7
IS  - 2
ER  -

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