Quote:
Originally Posted by Tuna
Why? Prison and the like have never been about blame and punishment, it's about keeping people who make society a less pleasant place off the streets for the betterment of humanity as a whole. That's all morality is. stealing is only wrong because it makes society a less functional place, so it has been indoctrinated in us not to do so. Generally accepted morality is determined by how it affects society at large, right?
I would argue that our neurons are not a choice, but a reaction. Choice is the feeling of empowerment that we chose (yeah I used the word in the definition, DEAL WITH IT) something independent of any previously existing factor imo.
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Never been about blame and punishment? Let's leave that for another time.
I was thinking more along the lines of normal human interaction. If no-one has true choice over their actions why appreciate anything anyone ever does or feels for you? Do you coldly think "my parent didn't choose to hug me, they have been conditioned to, I will be nice to them in order to maintain the social contract". No, while we may appreciate it on some level no-one actually processes human interaction like that on a personal level apart from sociopaths, and they can only survive on the goodwill and trust of others.
You can step back and evaluate it in the way economists, psychologists and the like do (purely as a social contract etc), but that isn't how people consider their own interactions in the moment (I don't think).
As for choice, I agree, you cannot choose anything without previous existing factors. First and foremost because previous factors are a always a given.
However if you do want to completely remove free will from the equation.....
You're saying people are input, output machines. I don't necessarily disagree. But given the same input in each machine, you should judge each on the (entire) output/effect it gives. Not because it's the machines "fault" or "choice", but because it's what that machine "is".