Re: Evolutionary Psychology and Free Will

Thank you, Loren and Keith for responding. John Hare is duly noted as a
name to look into – though it may not happen until school is out. Of
course -- having papers to grade didn't keep me from running off my
mouth some more below!

My exposure to this has been stretching me these last few years. I
remember reading Keith's "Perspectives..." (which included some essays
of yours, Loren, if my memory serves) and being troubled by the last
section of the book -- written by a Neuroscientist whose name escapes me
at the moment. I had the privilege of hearing that doctor in person at
K-State (again -- courtesies of Keith), and the phrase "emergent
properties" was one of the answers given to reductionist thought. Yet I
still have only a vague notion of its meaning. A property of a whole may
"emerge" that is more than simply the sum of the parts. -- or at least I
can parrot this explanation. There is a needed exorcism of LaPlace's
demon from my scientific worldview (in my case the quantum world with
all its so-called random uncertainties ended up fleeing the scene
bleeding and naked -- chaos theory following close behind) Maybe your
answers (or the pursuits you suggest) are just the welcome tool for my
"deliverance", but paradigms resist change of course. For some reason my
theology has never been touched by any of this; I am certainly not
Calvinist (split personality again?). Prayer and fasting may be in
order. But meanwhile common evening tasks call me pleasantly away.

--merv

Curiosity killed the cat, but for a while I was a suspect. –Steven Wright
Received on Thu May 4 22:44:34 2006