3 ms·
If free will is a fiction, how can you pass judgement on "us" for punishing people? If free will is a fiction then what good is saying things like "if we do X
by skwirl 6y ago
If free will is a fiction, how can you pass judgement on "us" for punishing people? If free will is a fiction then what good is saying things like "if we do X we are no better than people who do Y" when nobody has any choice in what they do?
- vidarh 6y agoWell, the obvious answer is that there is no choice in that either, but that in most context it serves us best to act as if we do have choice, because the effects of our actions still affect us. If we "step into the fiction" so to speak, there is reason for passing judgement if passing judgement leads to better outcomes. A lack of agency does not shield us from those outcomes. But it makes retribution as a justification fundamentally immoral. Of course, there's recursion here - retribution for retribution would be no better.