SUO: Re: Determination
¤~~~~~~~~~¤~~~~~~~~~¤~~~~~~~~~¤~~~~~~~~~¤~~~~~~~~~¤
| Earlier this century in 'The Open Universe: An Argument for Indeterminism',
| Karl Popper wrote, "Common sense inclines, on the one hand, to assert that
| every event is caused by some preceding events, so that every event can be
| explained or predicted. ... On the other hand, ... common sense attributes
| to mature and sane human persons ... the ability to choose freely between
| alternative possibilities of acting." This "dilemma of determinism", as
| William James called it, is closely related to the meaning of time. Is the
| future given, or is it under perpetual construction? A profound dilemma for
| all of mankind, as time is the fundamental dimension of our existence.
|
| Ilya Prigogine (In Collaboration with Isabelle Stengers),
|'The End of Certainty: Time, Chaos, and the New Laws of Nature',
| The Free Press, New York, NY, 1997, p. 1. Originally published as:
|'La Fin des Certitudes', Éditions Odile Jacob, 1996.
¤~~~~~~~~~¤~~~~~~~~~¤~~~~~~~~~¤~~~~~~~~~¤~~~~~~~~~¤