Causal determinism, computational theory of mind, and a totally global fatalism for the objective world from the third-person perspective of a dedicated personality state
Xiao-Yang Yu
December 6, 2019 preprint DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/uzq8y (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues for a totally global fatalism on the basis of causal determinism: because choices are controlled by the neural substrate and the neural substrate by physical laws, people have no control even over their choices and are powerless to do otherwise; a non-physical mind or consciousness would make no difference to the physical world or to choices. |
Abstract
An individual has no control even over her choices. Her choices are controlled by the neural substrate. The neural substrate is controlled by the physical laws. So, her choices are controlled by the physical laws. So, she is powerless to do anything other than what she actually does. This is the view of fatalism. Specifically, this is the view of a totally global fatalism, where people have no control even over their choices, from the third-person perspective. And I just argued for fatalism by appeal to causal determinism. The non-physical existence of mind or the non-physical existence of consciousness has no impact on the physical world, the choices, or the neural substrate of the non-physical existence of mind/consciousness.