Determinism Is Irrational

Earlier this month neuroscientist Michael Egnor posted a piece at Mind Matters in which he made a case against the notion that free will is an illusion and that in fact all of our choices are determined by factors such as our environment or our genes.

Egnor made four brief points:

1. Nature is not deterministic.
2. Neuroscience clearly supports the reality of free will.
3. The claim that “free will isn’t real because we are governed by states of matter” is self-refuting.
4. Everyone believes free will is real.

He gives a brief explanation of each of these at the link. His explanation for #3 is particularly interesting.

Essentially, he points out that if determinism is true then all our thoughts and actions are the product of electro-chemical processes in the brain.

It follows, then, that the claim that determinism is true is ultimately a product of electro-chemical processes, but the claim that determinism is true is a proposition, it can be either true or false. But if it's just an epiphenomenon of brain chemistry how can it be true or false. Molecular interactions have no truth value, they're just states of matter. Thus, the determinist's claim is fundamentally meaningless.

About #4 he writes this:

Free will deniers live their lives as if free will is real — they make moral claims, they believe they can convince other people to change their minds by rational arguments, they acknowledge the concepts of justice and injustice, they give credit or blame for good or bad conduct, etc. The least we can ask of materialists is that they live according to their “beliefs” (which they deny they have — it’s just states of matter after all!).

But if you really don’t believe free will is real, you can’t logically praise or blame anyone. You can’t adhere to any moral standard. If free will isn’t real, them murder has the same moral status as saving a life — it’s all determined by states of matter and we have no choice in what we think or do.

Hitler and Mother Theresa are morally the same — that is, they are not moral creatures at all. We instinctively know that that isn’t true.

It comes down to this: If you have a metaphysical theory and it contradicts science, logic, and everyday experience, then your metaphysics should be abandoned. It’s noteworthy that materialists miss this point: the logical implication of determinism and materialism — the implication that free will doesn’t exist — isn’t evidence against free will, which is undeniable, but evidence against materialism, which is utterly untenable.

If someone is a determinist but they can't live consistently with their determinism they really should give it up. Otherwise, they're being irrational.