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'determinism' Is Just Fine
Title
'determinism' Is Just Fine: A Reply To Scott Sehon.
Creator
De Marco, Gabriel
Abstract/Description
Scott Sehon recently argued that the standard notion of determinism employed in the Consequence Argument makes it so that, if our world turns out to be deterministic, then an interventionist God is logically impossible. He further argues that because of this, we should revise our notion of determinism. In this paper I show that Sehon's argument for the claim that the truth of determinism, in this sense, would make an interventionist God logically impossible ultimately fails. I then offer and...
Show moreScott Sehon recently argued that the standard notion of determinism employed in the Consequence Argument makes it so that, if our world turns out to be deterministic, then an interventionist God is logically impossible. He further argues that because of this, we should revise our notion of determinism. In this paper I show that Sehon's argument for the claim that the truth of determinism, in this sense, would make an interventionist God logically impossible ultimately fails. I then offer and respond to a weaker version of the argument for the claim that we should revise our notion of determinism.
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Date Issued
2016-06
Identifier
FSU_libsubv1_wos_000384551600015, 10.1007/s11406-016-9712-0
Format
Citation
Moral Responsibility, Authenticity, And Ownership
Title
Moral Responsibility, Authenticity, And Ownership.
Creator
Flummer, Matthew T.
Date Issued
2016-09
Identifier
FSU_libsubv1_wos_000382403800002, 10.1007/s10790-015-9534-5
Format
Citation
Quantum-like Behavior Without Quantum Physics I
Title
Quantum-like Behavior Without Quantum Physics I.
Creator
Selesnick, S. A., Rawling, J. P., Piccinini, Gualtiero
Abstract/Description
Recently there has been much interest in the possible quantum-like behavior of the human brain in such functions as cognition, the mental lexicon, memory, etc., producing a vast literature. These studies are both empirical and theoretical, the tenets of the theory in question being mainly, and apparently inevitably, those of quantum physics itself, for lack of other arenas in which quantum-like properties are presumed to obtain. However, attempts to explain this behavior on the basis of...
Show moreRecently there has been much interest in the possible quantum-like behavior of the human brain in such functions as cognition, the mental lexicon, memory, etc., producing a vast literature. These studies are both empirical and theoretical, the tenets of the theory in question being mainly, and apparently inevitably, those of quantum physics itself, for lack of other arenas in which quantum-like properties are presumed to obtain. However, attempts to explain this behavior on the basis of actual quantum physics going on at the atomic or molecular level within some element of brain or neuronal anatomy (other than the ordinary quantum physics that underlies everything), do not seem to survive much scrutiny. Moreover, it has been found empirically that the usual physics-like Hilbert space model seems not to apply in detail to human cognition in the large. In this paper we lay the groundwork for a theory that might explain the provenance of quantum-like behavior in complex systems whose internal structure is essentially hidden or inaccessible. The approach is via the logic obeyed by these systems which is similar to, but not identical with, the logic obeyed by actual quantum systems. The results reveal certain effects in such systems which, though quantum-like, are not identical to the kinds of quantum effects found in physics. These effects increase with the size of the system.
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Date Issued
2017-09
Identifier
FSU_libsubv1_wos_000408372500007, 10.1007/s10867-017-9460-9
Format
Citation
Rescuing The Zygote Argument
Title
Rescuing The Zygote Argument.
Creator
De Marco, Gabriel
Abstract/Description
In a recent paper, Kristin Mickelson argues that Alfred Mele's Zygote Argument, a popular argument for the claim that the truth of determinism would preclude free action or moral responsibility, is not valid. This sort of objection is meant to generalize to various manipulation arguments. According to Mickelson, the only way to make such arguments valid is to supplement them with an argument that is an inference to the best explanation. In this paper, I argue that there are two other ways in...
Show moreIn a recent paper, Kristin Mickelson argues that Alfred Mele's Zygote Argument, a popular argument for the claim that the truth of determinism would preclude free action or moral responsibility, is not valid. This sort of objection is meant to generalize to various manipulation arguments. According to Mickelson, the only way to make such arguments valid is to supplement them with an argument that is an inference to the best explanation. In this paper, I argue that there are two other ways in which the proponent of such manipulation arguments can modify their argument, neither of which requires an inference to the best explanation. I then briefly consider and respond to a worry with one of these proposed solutions.
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Date Issued
2016-06
Identifier
FSU_libsubv1_wos_000376271100011, 10.1007/s11098-015-0571-5
Format
Citation
Rescuing_the_Zygote_Argument-Revised (1)
Title
Rescuing_the_Zygote_Argument-Revised (1).
Format
Citation