All action is actuated by "the will"... ANY ACTION U THINK OF! “Men are mistaken in thinking themselves free; and this opinion consists of this alone, that they are conscious of their actions and ignorant of the causes which determine them”
1.) Do u know what Reason is...? 2.) Music and Art... yes, it's influenced by earthly sensation, but, ultimately, the appreciation of them occurs in a higher reality. By earthly sensation I mean the over-enjoyment of sex, money, drugs, and pleasure. Most people in this reality are ruled by the pleasure rule; and Reason goes directly against the insatiable willing for pleasure...
But do you not agree... the standard physical perception of an object, is, different than the, mental, "interpretation" of it, right?
Tell me what you mean by 'reason'. "Higher reality"? There is only this reality, and everything we do and desire is a result of our human nature [as in, how our consciousness manifests from the physical, and what the physical causes us to do...] I guess I'll first need to know what you mean by 'reason', and then I'd need to know what it is about acting in accordance with reason which goes against such earthly desires.
Reason is the capability of man to judge objects with impartiality and coherence; and not with emotion and impulse.
Okay... so, you don't believe the intangible realm of ideas is different than the tangible physical world?
"There is one problem with free will, which ultimately undermines it. If free will is prevalent in the world, wouldn't the world be a much more reasonable place? Ugh...What does this entail? What would a reasonable world look like? Give some examples. Eh...why would you, or why wouldn't you? What is the dictating factor that would compel you to avoid such earthly-sensations and impulses? Would this dictating factor not be a desire in itself? Bottom line...there's a reason for everything, I don't even see how free-will is possible in a hypothetical world. Eh...I consider it a projection of the physical, in a sense. But I believe that anything intangible has a precise physical counterpart.
"She fell in the pond yesterday when she was looking at herself in it, which she is always doing. She nearly strangled, and said it was most uncomfortable. This made her sorry for the creatures which live in there, which she calls fish, for she continues to fasten names on to things that don't need them and don't come when they are called by them, which is a matter of no consequence to her, she is such a numbskull, " an excerpt from Mark Twains "Adams diary"
1.) Huh...? 2.) Yes, I agree, but this mental counterpart transcends physicality... hence, another realm.
You said that if we had free-will, we would "act in congruence with reason," as opposed to indulging in earthly pleasures. Why?
Because... too much of anything will hurt you! The intrinsic drive for pleasure, be it mental or physical, within a human is insatiable - total adherence to this mundane drive will inevitably lead you down a road of destruction; moderation is a symptom of Reasoning - Reason.
Okay. Yet there's a reason for wanting to indulge in moderation, as opposed to either extreme. And that's the desire to preserve the body, long-term health and long-term well-being. But if free-will existed, there would be nothing stopping me from indulging excessively, if I desired immediate pleasure more than I desired long-term health benefits.
Yea, that's exactly my point... we can choose which path to take, but, we don't cause the creation of paths. All action, weather it's actuated by Reason or impulse, is to appease to the will... Reason tells me to implement moderation into my daily conduct, so I can preserve my being - appeasing my will.
You said that if free-will existed, we would act "in congruence with reason". You said that moderation is a "symptom of reason," implying that we would not indulge excessively in earthly pleasures. I said that this doesn't have to be the case. If free-will existed there would be nothing stopping the world from indulging in such earthly pleasures as excessively as they already are, if they were to desire such pleasures more than they desire long-term health benefits.
Yeah...I was responding to this: There is one problem with free will, which ultimately undermines it. If free will is prevalent in the world, wouldn't the world be a much more reasonable place? If I can freely choose to act with my mind/intellect, and not body, why wouldn't I choose to act in congruence with Reason, in every situation?