God as Reason: Essays in Philosophical Theology

Chapter 4: Rationalism, Determinism, Freedom

75 CHaPteR 4 8 Rationalism,฀Determinism,฀Freedom An฀excellent฀book฀about฀deter minism฀ends฀with฀the฀follo wing฀advice:฀ “As฀a฀practical฀‘solution’฀I฀recommend฀the฀ostrich฀tactic:฀don’t฀think฀too฀ closely฀or฀too฀long฀on฀the฀issues฀raised฀here ,฀and฀in฀daily฀life฀contin ue฀ with฀the฀presumption฀that฀the฀‘I’฀that฀chooses฀and฀the฀self฀to฀which฀we฀ attach฀ value฀judgments฀ are฀ autonomous.฀ Let฀ those฀ who฀ want฀to฀call฀ themselves฀philosophers฀bear฀the฀risk฀to฀their฀mental฀health฀that฀comes฀ from฀thinking฀too฀much฀about฀free฀will.”1฀ Belonging฀unfor tunately฀to฀ the฀high-risk฀g roup฀called฀“philoso phers ,”฀I฀w ant฀to฀dedicate฀at฀least฀some฀time฀and฀energ y to reflecting upon฀the฀relation฀of ฀freedom฀and฀deter minism.฀I฀do฀not฀claim฀in฀this฀ essay฀the฀truth฀of฀determinism,฀but฀I฀want฀to฀make฀as฀strong฀as฀possible฀ a฀case฀for฀it,฀and฀I฀certainly฀want฀to฀defend฀compatibilism,฀that฀is,฀the฀idea฀ that฀determinism฀does฀not฀exclude฀a฀meaningful฀concept฀of฀freedom.฀At฀ least฀I฀want฀to฀reject฀some฀gross฀misrepresentations฀existing฀about฀determinism ฀that฀have฀led฀to฀exag gerated฀expectations฀with฀reg ard฀to฀quantum ฀mechanics—as฀if฀only฀this฀theory฀could฀free฀us฀from฀a฀horrible฀and฀ ultimately฀immoral฀vision฀of฀the฀world.฀There฀is฀no฀doubt฀about฀the฀fact฀ 76฀ Philosophical฀Theology that฀quantum฀theory signifies a profound challenge฀for฀ontology;฀but฀its฀ philosophical฀importance฀would฀remain฀great฀enough,฀if,฀for฀example,฀it฀ enforced฀a฀revolution฀in฀mereology฀(the฀doctrine฀of฀the฀relation฀between฀ parts฀and฀the฀whole)฀and฀in฀relation฀to฀the฀locality฀principle฀without,฀at฀ the฀same฀time ,฀undermining฀determinism฀or฀ev en฀realism.฀In฀any฀case ,฀ quantum฀theory฀is฀not฀the฀only฀way฀to฀overcome฀determinism,฀and฀perhaps ฀there฀is฀no฀urgent฀need฀to฀overcome฀determinism. Max฀Planck’s฀and฀Alber t฀Einstein’s฀seemingly฀stubbor n฀refusal฀to฀ embrace฀a฀non-deterministic฀interpretation฀of฀quantum฀mechanics฀is฀explained ฀by฀psychological฀categ ories฀of ฀a฀reductionistic฀nature฀only฀b y฀ those฀persons฀who฀are฀not฀acquainted฀with฀the฀arguments฀in฀fa vor฀of฀ determinism.฀Such฀arguments฀played฀a฀role฀already฀in฀ancient฀philosoph y;฀ it฀is,฀however, not difficult to see why฀in฀Late฀Antiquity฀and฀in฀the฀Middle฀ Ages฀determinism฀became฀a฀more฀concrete฀position,฀attracti ve฀to฀phi losophers ฀of ฀all฀three฀monotheistic฀religions .฀T he฀doctrines฀of ฀divine฀ prescience฀and,฀even฀more,฀of฀divine฀omnipotence฀are,฀to฀say฀the฀least,฀ more฀easily฀compatible฀with฀a฀deter ministic฀universe฀than฀with฀a฀nondeterministic ฀one,฀even฀if฀much฀effort฀was฀dedicated฀to฀various฀attempts฀ to฀show฀that฀free฀will฀was฀not฀excluded฀by฀those฀two฀doctrines.฀In฀early฀ modernity, finally,฀a฀determinist฀view฀of฀the฀world฀was฀largely฀accepted,฀ partly฀on฀theological฀grounds—albeit฀the฀changes฀in฀the฀concept฀of฀God฀ that฀took฀place฀in฀this฀time฀ were฀profound—and฀partly฀also฀by฀agnostic฀ or฀even฀atheistic฀positions . It is significant that one of฀the฀classics฀of฀ ฀ determinism—perhaps฀the฀best฀kno wn—antedates฀Isaac฀Newton’s฀Philosophiae ฀Naturalis฀Principia฀Mathematica ฀of฀1686:฀Bar uch฀Spinoza’s฀Ethica฀ appeared฀(posthumously)฀in฀1677.฀This฀shows฀that฀the฀triumph฀of฀determinism ฀did฀not฀presuppose฀the฀emergence฀of฀classical฀mechanics,฀even฀if฀ it฀would฀be฀misleading฀to฀deny฀that฀it฀was฀favored฀by฀it. And฀yet฀there฀are฀philosophical฀arguments฀for฀deter minism฀that฀do฀ not฀depend฀on฀the฀state฀of ฀the฀art฀of฀physics;฀and฀because฀determinism฀ did฀not฀need฀Newtonian฀physics฀in฀order฀to฀be฀articulated฀as฀a฀philosophical ฀position,฀it฀ cannot฀be฀confuted฀either฀b y฀the฀re placement฀of฀ Newtonian฀physics฀by฀other฀paradigms .฀I฀do฀presuppose฀here ,฀for฀the฀ argument’s฀ sake,฀ that฀ Newtonian฀ mechanics฀ is฀a฀ deterministic฀ theory.฀ This฀is,฀however,฀a฀position฀not฀shared฀b y฀everybody.฀John฀Earman฀denies ฀it฀explicitly—even฀if฀by฀introducing฀solutions฀of฀the฀relevant฀mathe- Rationalism,฀Determinism,฀Freedom฀ 77 matical฀equations฀that฀could฀be฀considered฀as฀not฀g enuinely฀possible฀ physically.2 ฀He฀regards฀special฀relativistic฀physics฀as฀more฀friendly฀toward฀ determinism.฀But฀I฀will฀not฀discuss฀these฀issues฀in฀this฀essa y.฀(I฀have฀to฀ ignore฀the฀problem฀of฀statistical฀laws฀as฀well.) I฀must฀restrict฀myself฀in฀this฀context฀to฀a฀very฀rough฀concept฀of฀determinism .฀By฀“determinism”฀I฀understand฀an฀ontological,฀not฀an฀epistemological ,฀position;฀predictability฀is฀therefore฀not฀a฀necessary฀moment฀in฀ the฀concept฀here฀presupposed,฀even฀if฀it฀played฀an฀enormous฀role฀in฀its฀ history.3 ฀The฀universe...