rlr (08/02/82)
Sorry, but here's (I hope) a last word (at least from me) on D vs FW. A deterministic system does not require anyone inside of that system to make any 'determinations' about the 'future' (or to be able to make them). Those pre-determinations (??) simply are. And finally, two comments on Laura Creighton's bit on D vs FW: 1) Your definition of free will seems to fit in with a deterministic system, i.e., one's ability to make decisions based on past experience, knowledge, etc. can be viewed as predetermined (acquired due to predetermined occurrences) and thus the decisions you make are equally predetermined, and 2) Tossing a coin can also be looked at deterministically: how deep you reach into your wallet/pocket/whatever to retrieve the coin, what hand you toss with, the force that the coin is thrown with, etc. can all be attributed to some cause-and-effect chain of events. Rich p.s. Jim Gardener makes an interesting point with regard to random quantum events. Free will would require such an "outside agent"...