Is Determinism Moral?

Morality

Determinism does not undermine morality.

Morality is determined.

Punishment

Talking of punishment: 

You could say punishment (or even judgement) should become unnecessary and disappear because we get to understand that no one is truly, ultimately responsible. But punishment may actually continue because it already happens, and no one is even responsible for that punishment or judgement.

All life and living is innocent.

Already!

Molecules do That

You might look at the news and think that seeing as things just happen by themselves, people don’t need to become terrorists and murder for a cause.

But one of the things happening is raging murder.

Molecules do that, and everyone is innocent while blaming each other.

Molecules just do that.

Innocence

Determinism guarantees the innocence of the world. Particles have no good or bad qualities and even when they are assembled into bodies there is still no right and wrong.

The totally indifferent and blind process of evolution has never had any idea of good or bad.

However the human brains it has produced have been programmed to experience the world in terms of like and dislike, approve and disapprove, as a means to get bodies to interact with the world and themselves, and other bodies in the most beneficial way to maximise survival and reproduction.

No Moral Responsibility

There is no moral responsibility. Not because people are not responsible for their actions, and we should understand this and forgive them. But because the universe and the behaviour of physical matter is the only factor responsible for everything. 

We are still totally allowed to judge and blame and condemn and jail people or hang them or set them free, because we can’t help it.

Any crime is determined.

Any condemning is determined.

Any forgiving is determined.

Any logical path of reasoning used to arrive at condemning or forgiving is determined.

Couldn’t be Better

Because all events are determined, you are relieved of all judgement. But if you do judge, you are relieved of that. It could not have been otherwise. 

It could not be better.

Sam and Others

Sam Harris and other scientist/philosophers speak about free will, especially around crime and punishment, and needing or wanting to change people or society for the better. They forget that not only is the criminal a robot who has no free will and not to blame, but that they themselves (and I myself) are robots who have no free will and are simply living a story or play as a puppet. 

This is while thinking (automatically thinking) that they are the ones with the correct point of view, deciding on their skillful, true and compassionate attitude with their own free will.

However, If there’s no free will, there’s:

No free actions

No free thoughts

No freedom to choose right or wrong

No freedom to help and forgive or to punish and blame.

The whole universe is in lockstep with the laws of physics.

Nothing can be outside this totally determined movement to get a true picture. Every understanding and reasoned argument, and every personal insight and point of view is determined.

Innocence

Every human action is determined, and so must be innocent. No one did it, except life itself.

You and I do only what’s determined. We are all initially and ultimately, innocent.

The Unfairness of Punishment

The unfairness of a punishing legal system is not due to a misunderstanding or ignorance of determinism, it is caused by determinism itself, as is everything else.

The process of determinism has no values at all, only rules about particle behaviour. What the particles do is up to the rules. There could be good and bad or fair and unfair or kind or cruel, and there is. 

Only we make judgements, and we are determined, along with the judgements we make. Determinism wins in the end, and in the middle, and in the beginning. This is it!

Bad Things

Why do bad things happen to good people? Because things happen. All sorts of things. And we label them according to our personal values and beliefs. Sometimes the determined labels we apply clash with the determined beliefs we have. Hence good person, bad thing. Uncomfortable feeling.

Getting Moral

You can’t create morality using determinism. The world is a determined creation and is constructed every moment before anything can be done about it.

Every object, every event, every thought, is determined already. And even if you are doing great things teaching understanding and forgiveness for all, that is part of the construction before you can do it. It’s a compassionate role but no praise is warranted for carrying out what must happen. Although praise can occur, when determined.

Sapolsky

Robert Sapolsky writes with compassion:

“I can’t really imagine how to live life as if there is no free will. It may never be possible to view ourselves as the sum of our biology. Perhaps we’ll have to settle for making sure our homuncular myths are benign, and save the heavy lifting of truly thinking rationally for where it really matters - when we judge others harshly.”

Yet we are living our lives as if there is no free will, because there is no free will. There is no such thing.

Whether we treat others harshly or not is determined. Rational thinking feels real but it is determined. 

We can postulate what we might choose to do with our beliefs and values, but it gets done for us, not by us. In any case, life goes on as a wonderful, or terrible illusion of freedom, depending if you are the criminal or the judge.

No Mistake

If determinism is true then no one is responsible for their actions and morality is an illusion. And determinism is true so this has been the case all along.

Yet we 8 billion of us have been living otherwise. Living as if everyone is responsible for their actions and moral behaviour.

And living this illusion is no mistake, it has been determined.

A Likelier Outcome

Does society need to make changes to how we treat criminal behaviour, or how we personally experience the illusion of choice and free will?

No! Because in a determined world it is not possible to make changes. However changes will happen or not according to the laws of physics.

For all we know, changes may occur in the direction of people having more faith in personal agency and free will. Blame and punishment may increase while scientific understanding of determined behaviour may decrease, leading to a more “cruel” and  “callous” world.

This would of course be a determined outcome, not a chosen one. However it seems likely that we will continue on a path towards deeper understanding of the truth of what we are, and become more compassionate. This also would be a determined outcome. A likelier and luckier outcome.

A Red Herring

All matter obeys the laws of physics. Everything is unfolding according to the laws. There is no room for further influence or change. 

Determinism is responsible. No one or nothing else is.

Moral responsibility, morality, or even even responsibility itself, is a red herring. 

Those concepts are constructed by evolutionary and social processes with effects on survival and reproduction. Life itself is not a red herring. It is the real thing, unfolding now. Even labelling aspects of it happens. That is real, but the truth is not in the label.

Don’t Mention it

Some wise and kindly philosophers and research scientists suggest we keep quiet about morality being a construct. Similar to meaning and purpose and lack thereof. They believe (possibly rightly) that their research grants would be affected, and their publications would create a nihilistic atmosphere and give philosophy and science a bad name.

Some, (hard determinists), do explore this area somewhat thoroughly, but the majority are compatibilists, who  believe that morality is an illusion but you can still have it, and meaning can exist for people but not for the universe.

Almost no one believes that you could or should live this (determinist) truth, even if it is your hard won conclusion. But luckily we don’t need to make that decision because what we do will be determined.