So many people seem most afraid of determinism because they feel that it makes nobody responsible for the actions. I am not talking about God determining everything, as that does, in fact, make us not responsible for our action. I am talking about unconscious desires / fears and reactions in our brain that make us act a certain way. Well, let me lay out some simple ways to look at this, and then I am sure they will be debated.
- Even though we are driven by things we are not conscious of, and reactions in our brain make our decision before we are aware of them, those are both still "us". Your subconscious desires, fears, etc and your brain are still you. Right there is why an individual should be held responsible for their actions in itself.
- Let us look at a serial killer. Chances are that there is something in their past that had affected them in ways they are not even fully aware of, a trigger that set them off, they have been conditioned to work a certain way. Yes, many unfortunate and even understandable things turn people into serial killers. How does this excuse them of their actions at all though? We are a product of our brains. It makes us aware, makes us think, makes us have a personality and our individuality, so if your brain "chooses", and you are your brain, you have chosen to kill.
- How about simply punishing acts because they are wrong? The first point is quite simple and the second point is probably the weakest. But how about the fact that if person X kills person Y, even though the killing is a product of things they are not even consciously aware of, they have still killed. We could get into setting up a logical system of morality here, but that would get us far too off topic haha.
Now, obviously we are talking retributivism rather than rehabilitation here, as you are unlikely to recondition the mind of a serial killer or rapist. But that is the point, if we stop being idiots about this perhaps we can accomplish more than paying to keep people locked up for years just to release them to offend again.
- Even though we are driven by things we are not conscious of, and reactions in our brain make our decision before we are aware of them, those are both still "us". Your subconscious desires, fears, etc and your brain are still you. Right there is why an individual should be held responsible for their actions in itself.
- Let us look at a serial killer. Chances are that there is something in their past that had affected them in ways they are not even fully aware of, a trigger that set them off, they have been conditioned to work a certain way. Yes, many unfortunate and even understandable things turn people into serial killers. How does this excuse them of their actions at all though? We are a product of our brains. It makes us aware, makes us think, makes us have a personality and our individuality, so if your brain "chooses", and you are your brain, you have chosen to kill.
- How about simply punishing acts because they are wrong? The first point is quite simple and the second point is probably the weakest. But how about the fact that if person X kills person Y, even though the killing is a product of things they are not even consciously aware of, they have still killed. We could get into setting up a logical system of morality here, but that would get us far too off topic haha.
Now, obviously we are talking retributivism rather than rehabilitation here, as you are unlikely to recondition the mind of a serial killer or rapist. But that is the point, if we stop being idiots about this perhaps we can accomplish more than paying to keep people locked up for years just to release them to offend again.
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