Topics Philosophy

Question Is it possible that belief in determinism and rejection of free will could affect a person's behavior? I can't see how. Is it just academic? A related question I have is how is solipsism even possible? Has anyone ever believed in it seriously and if so how did (or would) it affect their behavior? Presumably they wouldn't bother to publish papers on the subject for obvious reasons! I can see how there can be very serious and edifying debate about the former. Because the word "solipsism" exists, there must at some point have been the same about the latter though I can't see how. Your thoughts would be very welcome!

Accepted:
November 6, 2006

Comments

There are forms of determinism (called "compatibilism" or "soft determinism") in which determinism and things like choice or personal responsibility are regarded as compatible. But the more traditional versions of determinism ("hard determinism") and solipsism seem to be philosophical positions that are not "livable." In other words, one cannot sensibly choose to be a determinist, or decide to live in accordance with the principle that we cannot really choose or decide anything, just as one cannot sensibly try to convince someone else that solipsism is true. Notice that the problem of being unlivable is not the same as being logically incoherent or inherently senseless. The idea that no one else in the world has consciousness or mental states isn't incoherent, but it would make what I am doing right now (trying to answer your question) weird, at best.

But even if these positions were in some sense formally incoherent, that does not at all mean that they could not affect someone's behavior. Some philosophers have claimed that certain religious beliefs are formally incoherent, for example, but that doesn't mean that such beliefs have not and could not have effects on someone's behavior. A (sad) fact of human nature is that we can somehow manage to hold beliefs that are senseless (in several possible ways) and yet have such beliefs influence us. Precisely how this can work is something I think we cannot yet explain adequately--and we won't be able to do so until we have a much better understanding of the metaphysics of mental states (including cognitive states, such as beliefs). But that people can hold and be influenced by nonsense is plain enough!