Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul C. Anagnostopoulos  Explain to me exactly how it is an oxymoron. Make sure you account for your insistence that every nonconscious choice I do make is not a "decision."
The boulder is irrelevant, since we agree it does not have libertarian free will. The question is: If we have libertarian free will, does every decision we make with it have to be conscious?
~~ Paul |
It's an oxymoron because non-conscious things simply follow physical laws or algorithms. It's future state is fixed. A decision on the other hand implies the ability to choose one course of action over another. This decision is not inevitable, but is made in the
now so to speak. That is to say I hypothesise that regardless of the previous physical state of the Universe and the physical state of my brain, I can choose to act amongst various alternatives -- I spontaneously cause myself to act in one way rather than another.
If this hypothesis is wrong (as those who adhere to the materialist metaphysic must maintain) then no one ever makes any decisions. If the boulder does not make a decision to roll down the hill, then I equally do not decide to respond to your post. Both I and the boulder are simply behaving according to physical laws and it is inconsistent to say that I decide but the boulder doesn't. In order to be consistent and say that I decided we must subscribe to this magical free will.
Now, could you name an example of a non-conscious choice I might make?