Topics Freedom

Question I have a little theory about universal causation that I wanted to put in my personal statement and I was hoping someone could tell me if it was a coherent concept or just nonsense. What I plan to write is as follows; "Should my pre-determined future consist of my attending university, I needn’t bother writing this personal statement, as that inevitability will insure my presence regardless of my individual efforts, yet should I be determined to avoid university, then I also needn’t bother finishing this sentence." Any response would be appreciated. Thanks.

Accepted:
December 1, 2007

Comments

First of all, I'm inclined to say that, if I was to read that in someone's university application, I would rather admire the applicant, not only for their boldness but also for the evidence it would provide that they were the kind of person who just naturally approached things in a philosophical way. I wouldn't actually agree with the sentiment, and I would look forward to exploring it with the candidate in an interview. But, when you're still at the stage of applying to university, you can't be expected to have all the answers already: the important thing is that you're sensitive to the questions.

The concept certainly isn't nonsense: it is an objection that has been raised several times, over the centuries, against philosophers who were committed to rigid theories of pre-determination. For an example, I might quote the late seventeenth century French philosopher, Pierre Bayle -- who was certainly no fool! -- in his critique of Spinoza. Spinoza had argued for a deterministic system in his book, Ethics, which prompted Bayle to write: "A man like Spinoza would sit absolutely still if he reasoned logically. 'If it is possible,' he would say, 'that such a doctrine might be established, the necessity of nature would establish it without my book. If it is not possible, all of my writings would accomplish nothing."'

But what the theory of universal causal determinism means is not simply that the effect has to happen, no matter what, but rather that the effect has to happen because the cause makes it happen. If the cause itself didn't occur -- if Spinoza hadn't written his book, or if you don't put due care and attention into your application -- then the outcome would not arise. It is, of course, true that the theory also entails that the cause must occur, because it was, in its turn, determined by some earlier cause. So perhaps it would make sense for you to hope that prior causes -- say, your genes and your upbringing -- will determine you to take proper care over your application. But the fact that everything is causally determined doesn't mean that we are always in a position to predict what's going to happen, because we don't know all the circumstances or the causal laws that actually determine things. From this position of ignorance, we should just do the best we can. It may be that, unbeknownst to us, that 'best' has been pre-determined not to be very good at all. In your case, I hope otherwise. In response to your specific claim, the inevitability will not ensure your presence regardless of your individual efforts, but it might well ensure your presence because of your individual efforts, and I certainly hope that it does.