Rough draft: Perhaps the higher level is underdetermined and acts in a manner that is, from the perspective of the lawfulness of the lower level, indeterminate in a manner analogous to how the digits in pi seem undetermined to one who is unaware of what they represent. But at the higher level, they act in a manner that is determined, albeit in a manner that is conditioned by circumstances. And these determinations are best understood in terms of seeking a kind of equilibrium/goal. The highest level would be that of a rational being that apprehends the good as such, and is, in virtue of its determination to seek this goal, undetermined...free.
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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