Waffle on determinism, free will and morality.

In a blog by a particle physicist where the words 'particle' and physics' are most often conspicuous by their absence, this is the most absurd post yet. Previously I've offered thoughts on the philosophy of science when discussing science and religion in relation to Stephen Hawking and earlier Richard Dawkins, and ranted about political issues like unfair immigration restrictions, thrown out fully deserved abuse to Melanie Phillips. As a scientist, migrant worker and voter I can at least offer a useful "hands on" perspective on those issues, but today I'm writing about the determinism and morality, which have no relation to any expert knowledge I have nor any bearing on my life and, as you will see, a subject I have done no research on.

Maybe one day I'll get around to particle physics again, but for now those of you who prefer to read blogs on topics where the author actually has some expertise, I hear jester has restarted blogging at Resonaances and has interesting comments on a very new idea. Today I just want to throw this out to the wolves because I like writing and learning by getting corrected can be fun.

My position on determinism and free will is very simply. I do not consider a persons "free will" to require that their actions cannot be predicted. Put beer in front of me and you can predict I'll drink it, hand me tasty food and I'll eat etc, but these are still free choices, there are plenty of options available to me which I could choose had I different desires. That my desires are a function of a deterministic world and can be predicted (in principle) from before I was born doesn't change this. I am as I was made and these are my desires. It is not the predictability which removes free will but restrictions on your ability to act differently, were your wishes and desires otherwise. If I were a slightly different person who had a distaste for alcohol I could choose not to drink. However if someone was controlling me like a robot, then irrespective of whether I wanted to drink or not I would do as controlled. Only in the latter do I lose free will.

Although one can of course choose a different definition (my point is essentially semantic), this has always seemed much better matched to my intuitive notion of free will and I've found it difficult to understand why others consider free will to require non-deterministic behaviour. I really struggle to see why anyone would worry about deterministic behavior, since it doesn't stop you from choosing to do what you want. In fact it is non-deterministic behavior I find tricky conceptually. I am now very used to the probabilistic determinism of quantum mechanics, but true non-determinism still seems like a very strange idea.

Recently I've been wondering if the difference between my view of free will and others might come from attitudes to morality. That would explain why I missed it, as I don't believe in any morality.

My perspective is very simple, maybe too simplistic. I only think in terms of empathy and never refer to any form of morality. There are things I don't like happening and want to stop, like murder, but I never consider them to be "bad" or the people responsible "evil", terms I'm not sure I even understand. If someone is killed I fell empathy for the victim and his/her family. I also feel empathy for the murderer who has probably just screwed their life up, and the murderers family too. The only reason I want the murderer caught and jailed is to prevent further murders, by protecting the public and deterring others. Perhaps this is silly and inconsistent in some way I haven't considered, if so feel free to let me know :).

Due to this attitude I rarely consider moral implications of determinism, but lets consider the consequences for morals from god. If you have a deterministic universe controlled by god, then, while all your actions may be free choices according to my definition, since god set things up such that there would be no possibility for you to behave any differently, god also appears to be responsible. So how god can then judge your actions against His moral code. Of course religion needn't assume determinism, or that god makes moral judgements and I think there are ways round this issue even if it does, though I won't continue the theological meanderings further.

I am simply wondering if this is the real issue behind the supposed conflict between determinism and free will. Do people really mean the ability to make bad moral decisions against the will of god? Otherwise I really can't fathom why any would have conceptual difficulties with living in a deterministic universe.

If you managed to make it through this tortuously ill informed post and want to enlighten me or point me in the direction of actual philosophical literature which explodes or explores the ideas here, please do.