One interesting point of departure for the study of human nature is our ability to know (or suppose that we know) laws of nature. For quite a while these laws have been formulated in mathematical and geometric terms. But math and geometry involve a kind of awareness of the infinite: the infinities that pertain to math and geometry, that is. But what kind of awareness is that? Is it simply a combination of NOT plus FINITE? But how could that mean anything if finite things are all we know? There is some sort of transcendence of experience going on here. Or rather, a transcendence of all possible experience. At this point it seems to be a good idea to reread the Phaedo.
Here is a summary and comments on the essay Freedom and Resentment by PF Strawson. He makes some great points, and when he is wrong, it is in such a way as to clarify things a great deal. My non-deterministic position is much better thanks to having read this. I’ll summarize it in this post and respond in a later one. In a nutshell: PFS first argues that personal resentment that we may feel toward another for having failed to show goodwill toward us would have no problem coexisting with the conviction that determinism is true. Moral disapprobation, as an analog to resentment, is likewise capable of coexisting with deterministic convictions. In fact, it would seem nearly impossible for a normally-constituted person (i.e., a non-sociopath) to leave behind the web of moral convictions, even if that person is a determinist. In this way, by arguing that moral and determinist convictions can coexist in the same person, PFS undermines the libertarian argument ...
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