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Question: Is the Mormon doctrine of "agency" or "free will" false, since all human choices are predetermined by the laws of physics?: Difference between revisions
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#{{note|fn1}} ''Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' on-line at ''plato.stanford.edu'' (revised 17 August 2004, last accessed 23 October 2006). {{link|url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/incompatibilism-theories/}}
#{{note|fn1}} ''Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' on-line at ''plato.stanford.edu'' (revised 17 August 2004, last accessed 23 October 2006). {{link|url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/incompatibilism-theories/}}
# Blake Ostler, tbd
# Ronald Hellings, <i>Determinism and Free Agency</i>, a talk presented at the Sunstone Symposium, Los Angeles, California, 1984 (unpublished).


==Further reading==
==Further reading==

Revision as of 22:02, 9 September 2009

This page is based on an answer to a question submitted to the FAIR web site, or a frequently asked question.

Question

Science demonstrates that all interactions of matter--including all events in the human brain--are sufficiently caused by previous events. If we know enough about the laws that govern these interactions and the current state of the universe, we would be able to exactly predict any future event. Does this mean that the doctrine of "agency" or "free will" is false, since all human choices are predetermined by the laws of physics?

Answer

The Spirit and the Body

Everything we think and feel is probably correlated with some physical changes in the brain. And, really, this shouldn't surprise the LDS, since they do not believe that "mind"/"spirit" and "body" are two totally separate and utterly un-similar things (See Cartesian fallacy):

There is no such thing as immaterial matter. All spirit is matter, but it is more fine or pure, and can only be discerned by purer eyes;
We cannot see it; but when our bodies are purified we shall see that it is all matter. (D&C 131:7-8)

Thus, in LDS theology there is no spirit/matter dichotomy. Spirit is matter, though less easily detected by mortal eyes. If a spiritual experience or a "thought" from our spirit/mind is to have an effect upon a mortal being, it's not surprising to find detectable physical changes in the gross "non-spiritual" matter which we can study. You won't detect the actor (the 'spirit matter'), necessarily, but you might expect to see the effect of the action (on the 'body matter').

Newtonian Determinism

The question that is likely to create an argument in any Sunday School class anywhere in the world is, "Does God perfectly know the future?" Half the class will insist that he does, because the scriptures are clear:

O how great the holiness of our God! For he knoweth all things, and there is not anything save he knows it. 2 Nephi 9:20

The other half will insist that this is not possible, since this would destroy the free agency of man that is so clear in so many places, like

Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves—to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life. 2 Nephi 10:23

But God’s knowledge is not really the question anyway. The real question involves the nature of physical and spiritual law — is it deterministic or indeterministic?

The Universe is said to be "deterministic" if, given the state of the Universe at one point in time, there is only one state possible at a later point in time. The Newtonian world view was deterministic. It suggested that, given the present positions, velocities, and other properties of every bit of matter, field, and (we would add) spirit, the future values for these variables are completely specified. Thus, the orbits of the planets, the weather, the rise and fall of nations, and the outcome of every love affair is already determined, based on the current state of the universe. It is hard to see how free agency can exist in such an environment.

Quantum Uncertainty

The alternative to a deterministic Universe is a Universe in which, given the state of the Universe at one point in time, more that one state is possible at a later point in time. We call such a Universe "indeterministic." Since the early 20th century, it has been clear that the fundamental laws of the Universe are quantum mechanical in nature. In quantum mechanics, the present state of the Universe may precisely determine a probability distribution, but, ultimately, the exact future state of the Universe will involve a random selection from among the allowed possibilities. There is always some uncertainty with respect to the future. This is perhaps the majority view of the interpretation of quantum theory, but it is not the only view. As the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy states

The scientific evidence for quantum mechanics is sometimes said to show that determinism is false. Quantum theory is indeed very well confirmed. However, there is nothing approaching a consensus on how to interpret it, on what it shows us with respect to how things are in the world. Indeterministic as well as deterministic interpretations have been developed, but it is far from clear whether any of the existing interpretations is correct. [1]

But does quantum mechanics do anything to help the situation relative to free agency? We must remember that quantum mechanics is partly deterministic — the determination of the probabilities for each possible outcome — and partly indeterministic — the final random selection of one state out of all the possibilities. The selection process that is no different than flipping a coin to make a choice. Therefore, the quantum world view, with each decision slave to the outcome of a coin toss, seems less conducive to free will than does the deterministic world view.

What Is Free Agency?

The existence or non-existence of free will has deeply troubled Mormon and non-Mormon philosophers for centuries, and the problem shows no sign of resolving itself.

One Mormon philosopher, Blake Ostler, [2]has suggested that there is a third possibility between determinism and indeterminism. This is the "creative synthesis" suggested by philosopher and theolgian Charles Hartshorne. In this view, the moment of decision itself creates a new entity that did not exist in the previous moment, one that is affected by the decision process and that contributes to the outcome of the decision process in a deterministic but unpredictable way. This, it is suggested, is what we call "free will."

On the other hand, a Mormon physicist, Ronald Hellings, [3] has argued that Hartshorne’s description of "creative synthesis" sounds suspiciously like a simple non-linear process, a completely deterministic thing that engineers and scientists encounter and solve all the time. In Hellings’ view, free agency should be thought of as the name for the deterministic causes that arise inside an individual’s uncreated intelligence. Determinism is required, according to Hellings, in order to allow those causes to truly make the decision and not have it stolen away at the last moment by a random flip of some electron in the brain.

Conclusion

We know from the scriptures that God can exactly predict the future, but we also know from the scriptures that we have our moral agency to decide our future. There is no generally-accepted solution to this problem.

Endnotes

  1. [note]  Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy on-line at plato.stanford.edu (revised 17 August 2004, last accessed 23 October 2006). off-site
  2. Blake Ostler, tbd
  3. Ronald Hellings, Determinism and Free Agency, a talk presented at the Sunstone Symposium, Los Angeles, California, 1984 (unpublished).

Further reading

FAIR wiki articles

< Back to FAIR Answers Index


Question: Is the Mormon doctrine of "agency" or "free will" false, since all human choices are predetermined by the laws of physics?




While doctrine is often the main focus of the Church of Latter-Day Saints, sometimes questions concerning how science affects and applies to the gospel arise. Below are links to multiple topics that address science in application to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Approaching Science

Science Concerns and Topics

Source(s) of the criticism
Critical sources

External links

Printed material

  • Richard N. Williams, "The Human Context of Agency," American Psychologist 47/6 (June 1992): 752–760.
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