tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633361416485591575.post2571642897264184875..comments2023-06-17T06:53:33.380-07:00Comments on Scriptspot: Adam, Eve, and Justice RobertsDeana Chadwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17904002435811922875noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633361416485591575.post-84804054566172828672012-07-10T14:20:32.572-07:002012-07-10T14:20:32.572-07:00The "version" of free will advocated by ...The "version" of free will advocated by Jonathan Edwards (and most Calvinists) can be expressed simply as "doing what you want to do, even if you couldn't do otherwise." This is compatibilism. But what's really odd about this is that it seems to take for granted the notion that whatever anyone does is always what they want to do. I dunno 'bout you, but I do A LOT of things that I don't want to do. So where does that fit in?Pete Chadwellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07144443315077769540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633361416485591575.post-11479493242396035882012-07-10T13:46:44.421-07:002012-07-10T13:46:44.421-07:00Good thinking! I hadn't even thought to touch ...Good thinking! I hadn't even thought to touch on the consequences part of the equation. Glad you responded.Deana Chadwellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17904002435811922875noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633361416485591575.post-36857156028059331112012-07-10T12:33:51.442-07:002012-07-10T12:33:51.442-07:00You wrote; "There is a force that wants them ...You wrote; "There is a force that wants them to do that, but they choose to acquiesce."<br /><br />Though it's not pleasant to consider, I think of a prisoner of war being tortured. Usually with the intent to glean information from the tortured. When a person is ordered to give up secrets or suffer excruciating pain, is the choice they make free?<br /><br />Notice I didn't say which choice they made. That's right… because they COULD choose to withhold the information and endure the pain, couldn't they? In fact many men have done just that, haven't they? I have no doubt some have even paid the ultimate price. And yet, I suppose others have resisted for a while, but finally caved under the intense pressure.<br /><br />For the one who resists through the first 5 torture sessions, but caves on the 6th, is his choice to cave made freely? In other words, could he have chosen otherwise? I think clearly he could have. If he didn't have the ability to choose otherwise, then how did he choose otherwise the previous 5 sessions?<br /><br />If we must deny that the torture victim's choices are free because those choices are being influenced by the threat of bodily harm, then aren't we really saying that the only free choice is the choice which lacks consequences?<br /><br />And what choice lacks consequences? If I choose to go fishing, that choice has consequences. Good ones, usually. But actually, there are some bad consequences, too… I lose money in gasoline. I have to spend time away from my family. My back will be sore afterward.<br /><br />Every choice has positive AND negative consequences and so we cannot say that choices are only free if they lack consequences. After all… why would anyone even make a particular choice if there were literally NO consequences?Pete Chadwellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07144443315077769540noreply@blogger.com