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From: jeff@aiai.ed.ac.uk (Jeff Dalton)
Subject: Re: Zeleny on predictability
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Date: Thu, 17 Aug 1995 16:53:17 GMT
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In article <40dl76$aqs@percy.cs.bham.ac.uk> A.Sloman@cs.bham.ac.uk (Aaron Sloman) writes:
>jeff@festival.ed.ac.uk (J W Dalton) writes:
>
>> Date: Thu, 10 Aug 1995 16:29:03 GMT
>> Organization: Edinburgh University
>>
>> axs@cs.bham.ac.uk (Aaron Sloman) writes:
>in response to Michael Zeleny
>
>[AS]
>> >...you seem to be arbitrarily linking things that
>> >have nothing to do with one another (responsibility and
>> >introspection) except perhaps in the framework of a theological
>> >theory of freedom of the will, as Jasper says.
>
>[JD]
>> Why do you call it theological?
>
>I don't mean all theories of freedom of the will are theological.
>E.g. some are compatible with predictability and determinism and are
>not theological.

Are there any incompatiblist theories you would not consider
theological?

>There are theological theories according to which god gave us
>freedom and various capabilities and obligations and which link
>responsibility and freedom and indeterminacy and notions of
>self-awareness. (I believe that the noun "consciousness" is linked
>historically to the notion of "conscience".)

Do you count theories as theological only if the explicitly bring
in God?  I'm wondering whether you think certain notions of free
will are inherently theological regardless of whether explicitly
theological arguments are used.

-- jd
