Carrying on from a conversation Here
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Kevin: And to be a materialist is to be incorrect, to put it bluntly. Allow me to guide you away from that right now.
Please do. I do hate to be caught holding an incorrect position :-)
Kevin: Firstly, if you beieve that your choices are made of your own free will, then you are not a materialist. For to be a materialist is to be a determinist.
I think I'm more of a compatibalist when it comes to free will, rather than a libertarian. I don't have a problem with complex behaviours arising, even to the point of "free will".
Libertarian free will (which it seems you're advocating) relies upon being able to have done something different given the exact same circumstances. I don't believe it can be shown that this can occur.
How does the soul give rise to free will, by the way?
If your decisions are based upon your experiences etc, then I don't see this requiring the immaterial. If your choices are not based upon your experiences etc, then your behaviour would essentially be random, no?
Kevin: Secondly, the existence of the soul is obvious, and the soul is immaterial.
Not to me it isn't :-)
Kevin: You see, the word soul comes from the Greek word anemos, which means "wind" or "breath".
No problems so far.
Kevin: Breath, of course, is what gives life to humans, much as the wind animates a tree's branches.
Food also gives life to humans, as water and nutrients give life to trees (as well as their respiration etc). You're presenting a very simplistic picture here :-)
Kevin: Now, to speak of the soul, we must give it three names: soul (self-explainatory); idea (it has an idea or plan for the life it creates); and form (that idea set into motion).
If you change "soul" to "mind" I have fewer problems with this.
I see no reason this must involve something immaterial (given the change from "soul" to "mind").
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I've cut out much of the context, so please visit the original for further reading.
