Re: The Problem with Atheism
Reply #354 –
Oakdale's going the right direction so I think - Which brings us to the consideration of "higher rules", but he's speaking about machines...
No: The example of an ethical machine was a rhetorical device to help a better analysis, viz., what would be required…for us to even imagine such.
But the "higher rules" idea doesn't actually get us anywhere — certainly not with the machine. In that case, programming still precludes (…even if it seems to allow) the freedom necessary for what we call ethical choice.
We're back to the difficulties of determinism…
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@James: Russell once used a pastiche of reductio showing that naive realism is false… Similarly, determinism is required by science; yet our best (most recent…) science eschews determinism!
Quantum Electro Dynamics is the "easiest" example. (Feynman's little book is a fun read!)
That is, determinism is an illusion…