Ordered Historical Space and Free Will
I‘ve just finished War and Peace.
Tolstoy spends quite a lot of time exploring the inevitability of history. Though it appears that such a stance finds itself wholly in the predestination camp, I am not sure the predestination camp is where his stance actually belongs, necessarily.
If innumerable free-wills form a composite active mass, then the resulting outcome is impossible to understand. Tolstoy is quite liberal with his criticism of “historians” who seem to argue from the appearance of connections between a particular result and a free-will agent assumed to be the antecedent. Such an inductive approach would look like the following: N. or A. did (or refused to do) X. and/or Y., therefore Z happened because N. or A. was involved and X. and/or Y. was also involved and can be seen in the elements of Z’s substance. (If Z contains the right factors, those factors are deduced as playing a role in Z). However, such an assumption seems ridiculous to make. N. and A’s activity in regard to X/Y form only a small part of Z’s composite; in fact the connection between the known variable’s activity and the result is impossible to fathom, due to the magnitude of the composite active mass.
Because of this, it seems that an outlook of historical inevitability is reasonable to hold. By inevitability I mean that Z is more than likely to result regardless of what N., A., do or don’t do with X/Y. In fact, due to the numerous other parts, it may be that N., A., X., Y., don’t matter at all.
And yet, I don’t think that any of this necessarily infringes on the idea of free will. Each individual may indeed be completely free. N. and A. can do whatever they please, but the events that our variables freely act out are played in an ordered space (an infinitely incomprehensible ordered space). It is in the disjunction that inevitability and free will may coexist.
A possible objection raises the question of whether the existence of ordered historical space infringes on Free Will. I do not think that it does, for the same reasons that I hold that God is omnipotent but cannot do the logically impossible or behave in a manner inconsistent with his character, and because of the wealth of material on that subject I don’t feel obligated to examine in depth in this post. I’m sure there are a host of other objections or additions, please have at it.
Impressive that you actually read War And Peace!! It’s quite a tome!
Very intellectual review, as well.
“Each individual may indeed be completely free. N. and A. can do whatever they please, but the events that our variables freely act out are played in an ordered space”
VERY well put. Compatible with the doctrines of free will AND karma.
May I ask what your religious upbringing/current religious beliefs are? Just curious.
Wah-ut Evah! I watched that movie “War and Peice” ain’t no thang. That part where my man T (that is what I call ma nigga Tolstoy) was stickin it to that fine woman. Dee-amn.
But you got sphinx up in here soundin’ inag-matic and what not. Shoot, somebody needs to get laid.
Sphinx: I really love Tolstoy’s work; the massive nature of War and Peace is really a benefit rather than a detriment. If you haven’t read it I highly encourage it!
May I ask what your religious upbringing/current religious beliefs are? Just curious.
Certainly! I was raised in a Christian family, and I remain true to Christianity (evangelical and protestant is my particular blend), though I have examined and studied other religious outlooks on the world (notably hinduism and islam). I belong to a non-denominational church in Columbus, Ohio.
ooh, tim now your getting questioned about your christianity, next the earth will explode. by the way I kind of got lost after the first paragraph. B + O + R + I + N + G.
Tim…
I was raised Catholic, went to catholic schools throughout my youth, and my mom, being the hardcore catholic that she is goes to church every day. She knows I’m buddhist, and although I was afraid of her judgement at first, we now can have the most interesting conversations…being in total acceptance of the other. A more enriching experience than I can ever remember with my mom. We actually believe in a lot of the same things, we just use different language for it.
You shared, so I thought I’d do the same. No judgement here, just curiosity. Thanks.
Free will can only be truely free if there is no outside force exerting pressure on a decision. For instance parking a car is not a major decision. You look for the best option available but really when it comes right down to it you’re still going to get that burrito. Big decisions like should I quit my job have outside influence built into them. Like, Do I have a wife to support, Do I have bills to pay, is my little brother going to need bail money this weekend? But the big question is, Does God really care which choice you make. Or rather. Does the Choice you make really matter to God. What if instead of one definitive linear future there are billions of them that change with every decision, every thought, every breath. What if instead of God only having one future in mind he has a billion. His timeline would not be effected because he not only knows the decision you are going to make he knows all possible decisions you are going to make and has seen the future of all of them. In this case Free Will is only effected by the limitations of humanity and God can still be God. Now if I can just remember where I parked.