A Free Will Argument?

[Josh]

An argument for free will came to mind as I was driving the other days and I'd like to test it out. So here it is- feel free and poke holes.

P1) Determinism believes that every action is predetermined by a prior cause going back to an original cause, and there can be no variation in this determination, and therefore no truly free will.

P2) It is hypothetically possible, given enough time, ability, and knowledge, that some being could completely understand the chain of causation in the universe.

P3) If said being did completely understand the chain of causation in the universe and in relation to some specific apparent "choice", that being would then be free to "choose" a different decision than the determined one.

C) If this can be done, then free will must exist.



Questions? Rejoinders? Things I'm missing?

[LadyAjax]

It has been yeeeaaaars since I read Asimov's Foundation trilogy, but as I sketchily recall, the main premise was that someone figured out how to predict the future of the human species using mathematics and psychology, and having done so, elects to try to change the course of that future for the "better".

[Josh]

Yes, that sounds in line with the argument I'm making.

[robin]

Asimov was tapping into something that modern day prophets have believed and used for some time. The use of astrology for prophecy is based on the premise time is cyclical and by reading the movements in the heavens, and looking into the past, you can then run that clock forward and predict similar events in the future. This was the technique that Nostradamus used, and in more recent time there was a man by the name if Terrence Mckinna (SP?) who developed the timewave zero theory that used mathematics and geometry to look back and then project forward to determine highs and lows in human events.

Much of this work I consider to be demonic, especially Mckinna's. He developed his timewave theory wile experimenting LSD, which he did quite frequently.