Doctrine of Determinism - Essay Example

With Earth's first Clay They did the Last Man's knead, And then of the Last Harvest sow'd the Seed: Yea, the first Morning of Creation wrote What the Last Dawn of Reckoning shall read. -Rubbyiat of Omar Khayyam LIII, rendered into English verse by Edward FitzGerald) You inhabit the world. You belong to the world. Which world The one inside you or the one outside There is perception and there is reality. There are thoughts that pervade and there are thoughts that provoke. Questions and uncertainty abound. Is perception of reality real Is reality for real The first step on the journey of revelation begins with doubting all that we have been taught to believe. All pre-conceived notions, assumptions and prejudices have to be questioned to know the real answers. If all this seems vague, let us try to understand it with a blend of science and philosophy. Let us shun the arbitrary and move on with well-defined concepts. All the elements that make the world function are constantly interacting with each other. These interactions follow a certain order (cosmic) sometimes. At other times these functional elements are in a state of disorder (chaos). The interactions categorize the world into two kinds. The first is the phenomenal world, which stands tall on our perception of reality. The second is the deterministic world, which advocates a sure-shot perspective on everything that happens. Consequently, a phenomenal world is an outcome of chance and randomness; while the deterministic world leaves no scope for chance or probability, apparently. But what is obvious is not always true. Recent scientific studies have put forth randomness as central to the universe. A physical being's genetic make up is the result of certain permutations and combinations that are purely random. So an individual is a consequence of cosmic coincidence! Biology justifies that. The Oxford dictionary defines chance as a possibility of something happening. Probability and likelihood are the other synonyms. In fact, we devise logic on the basis of chance. There are infinite situations when probabilistic logic becomes the foundation for sound reason and subsequent action. The notion of expected utility is the outcome of the probabilistic calculus. I work hard because I think it betters my chances to succeed. The practical dimension of chance makes it the central element in the otherwise deterministic world! Determinism is an apparent antonym of chance. Determinism looks so scientifically grounded, but it has a philosophical foundation in the Principle of Sufficient Reason (PSR). German rationalist, Leibniz, an adherent to this principle used it extensively in his philosophical findings. According to the Principle of Sufficient Reason, there is a reason why something happens in a particular way and not in some other way. It is a powerful principle. It defies the existence of chance in the real world. So if chance exists, then Principle of Sufficient Reason fails. Perhaps. Perhaps not. So we might observe that determinism is an offshoot of the Principle of Sufficient Reason. Both the concepts seem to be in synergy. Determinism defies chance and so does the Principle of sufficient reason. So how are the two concepts different The Principle of Sufficient Reason seems to justify the concept of rational thought. But a detailed analysis brings out something drastically different. If this principle is to be believed, then there has to be a justification for anything and everything. Subsequently, there has to be a reason as to why there should be a reason for anything to happen. But Leibniz has offered no explanation for this. It is an underived principle. So what is the rationale for something, which has no reason or logic The explanation of the principle refutes its existence. Strange paradox. Another interesting concept that is significant in the explanation of the Principle of Sufficient Reason vis--vis the concept of determinism is the principle of Universal Sufficient Causation. According to the concept of Universal Sufficient Causation, there has to be a sufficient reason for the occurrence of a particular event. A sufficient cause in this case is a cause that guarantees its effect. Therefore a cause should give way to an effect. However certain events might be the potential cause for an effect, but not sufficient for that effect to happen. The causation is chancy. So there is no determinism in this case. Hence determinism does not allow for chance. In fact, the structures of reality are so complex, that events that look relevantly similar in all respects produce quite different effects. This could be the case even if the world was deterministic. Consider the notion of coincidence. It is a fact even in the deterministic world. What is the rationale behind coincidence Two events that have mutually independent sufficient causes are happening simultaneously. What else, but chance would justify this. Both PSR and the concept of determinism refute the concepts of chance and probability. However, both have major limitations that cannot explain certain events. Hence the notion of chance finds its way. But that does not imply that both the concepts are similar. In fact, PSR is stronger than the principle of determinism. 'Determinism is the philosophical proposition that every event, including human cognition and action, is causally determined by an unbroken chain of prior occurrences. No mysterious miracles or wholly random events occur'.(wikipedia.com). But mysterious events occur and determinism can offer no explanation to the concept of coincidence. This is where the Principle of Sufficient Reason makes a point. PSR does assume that everything happens because of a specific reason. 'But even if we cannot always see a reason, Leibniz asserted, God can see the reason'. And God is that 'necessary being', who offers all the reasons and rationale for otherwise unexplained events, according to Leibniz. And we could say that Leibniz's concept of 'necessary being' is another way to attribute the unexplained to chance. So the contention that PSR does not allow for chance is not a universal truth. If it is not the truth, then its opposite should be the truth. This means that PSR allows for chance. This means that the basis of PSR is nullified because chancy events have no explanation or logic. But this is also not completely true. The Principle of Sufficient reason traverses the scietific as well as the philosophical paradigms. The scientific outlook believes in a deterministic world where everything is happening for a reason. So if there have been certain causes that have defined the course of certain events in the contemporary situation, then similar causes or reasons might effect a similar future. Therefore there is a pre-determined future. This implies that the future is fixed. Now analyse the philosophical paradigm. Is the future pre-determined or fixed There are so many other factors. Coincidence is one of them. If two mutually exclusive causes can produce the same effect, then similar circumstances in the future might lead to different events, entirely different from the present. Chance expalins that. Though chance can also not be viewed with an objective perspective, yet there is an entire gamut of factors which make probability a dominant precursor as well as catalyst for so many events. PSR allows for chance. Let us suppose the infinite plurality of possible worlds. According to Leibniz's contention that God had all the possibilities in his mind when He contemplated creation, we also assume that there could have been other possible worlds besides the actual world we inhabit. Let us also suppose the possibilities to be concrete. Therefore all these possible worlds also have a physical space as does our actual world. This dissolves the distinction between the possible and the actual. To say that we are in the actual world is just our interpretation of 'here' and 'now'. This implies that some other possible world could also have been the actual world. Existence has been bestowed on one, which we perceive as the actual world. So one of the possible worlds is by pure chance the actual world! We considered Leibniz's contention as the basis of this example and observed that even the Principle of Sufficient Reason allows for chance. 'If Leibniz had put all this together, he might have questioned one of the key pillars of his philosophy, namely, the principle of sufficient reason---that everything happens for a reason. Furthermore, if something is true, it must be true for a reason. That may be hard to believe sometimes, in the confusion and chaos of daily life, in the contingent ebb and flow of human history. But even if we cannot always see a reason (perhaps because the chain of reasoning is long and subtle), Leibniz asserted, God can see the reason. It is there! References: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, accessed on August 5,2006 Chaitin, Gregory (2006) The Limits of Reason, Scientific American 294, No.3 (march 2006), pp. 74-81, Retrieved July 5, 2006 from Jeffery, Richard; The Logic of Reason Lewis D (1986), Plurality of Worlds (Oxford) Read More