A Tough Road (Part 1)

It took me years to "define" my religion. And I did this for a reason. There are many out there who reject the classical or traditional views of Christianity (and all other religions) and pretend to have their "own" belief system. And generally what I have found is that these people fall into 2 categories: 1) Their ideas were espoused 400 years ago and is nothing new, or 2) Their ideas are not based on any observable, supportable evidence (it's just some crazy idea they made up). My religious belief can be described best as ____________ (that's a discussion for another day, haha).

As I have stated before, I had generally accepted Kant's notion of Deontology as the system of "ethics/morals" that most closely aligned with my beliefs. But recently I have had a shift. And not surprisingly - after a little more research - it turns out that my ideas have (kind of) been around for quite a long time. While I wouldn't say it is identical - the themes are certainly close enough.


You see, my general premise is that although humans have free will, their basic moral character is predetermined by their genetic make up. On the surface, this is very similar to the philosophical view Compatibilism - the idea that free will and determinism can coexist. And although I certainly agree with free will, it is the determinism part I have a problem with. So I have to layout my problems with determinism while at the same time showing how my theory distinguishes itself. Secondly, like Compatibilism, I have to show how free will can coexist with predetermined moral character.

I have a tough road ahead.

Determinism: Basically the notion that all actions have been predetermined by the environment; there is no such thing as free will. I'm not afraid to admit that a basic reading of determinism sounds very closely related to my basic notion that our basic moral character is predetermined. But the primary difference is that I do not believe our "actions" are actually predetermined. Let's look more closely at Determinism from 2 primary points of view: Religious/Spiritual and Secular.
- Religious/Spiritual: One may believe that a spiritual entity (God) is the omnipotent being that has predetermined all actions. I will not attempt to argue against this perspective. This is a purely faith based perspective which is not based on any empirical evidence. I have nothing against one's faith - but there is no point in trying to discuss 'logically'.
- Secular: Without any spiritual interference or supernatural influence, the events of the natural world are governed by one undeniable force: the laws of physics. Under the right circumstances, those very laws produced life. With life, came a new set of governing principles - evolution. Without free will, I do not believe humans would have ever impacted the process of evolution; and if you have read any of my other blogs you know that I firmly believe humans have had a major impact on the evolutionary process. In short - the natural process of evolution gives me no reason to believe that humans would have become sentimental and sympathetic to humans with unfavorable traits. In my humble opinion, the very fact that humans are capable of choosing mates based on any other value than those that will ensure the greatest chance for survival is a direct contradiction to the natural process of evolution. And as such is the best argument for the notion of free will.
(In an ironic tangent... as the early human ancestors were evolving, the ability to 'reason' would have simply been a new trait which greatly increased our chances of survival - yet at the same time would ultimately be the trait which ensured humans would no longer breed only for the purpose of increasing the species' chance for survival.)

So in other words, without any supernatural influences, I equate determinism to the natural process of evolution - the natural course of actions as predetermined by the laws of physics and other environmental processes. But the moment we were able to "choose" a different path - we exercised our free will.

So - how do I now reconcile this notion of free will with the concept that our basic moral character is actually "predetermined"?

To be continued....