Friday, July 7, 2017

Free Will, Determinism, Habit

In Physics, Distance is a rigid path between two points, so attribution of Distance to a moving object abstracts from possible swerves in the motion, in which case the actual distance traveled by the object can be greater than the measured Distance.  Likewise, Velocity, the standard Physicist concept of which is uniform, can abstract from the accelerations and decelerations that are not precluded by average Velocity, which is the concrete original version of the concept.  Also similarly, Habit, the prototype of Determinist behavior, can easily be observed, i. e. in the process of developing it, to be the product of numerous moments of discontinuities that are the occasions of voluntary Effort, e. g. in the memorization of lines. Thus, available to Bergson is a micro-analysis that reveals the irregularities which Determinism pre-supposes.  Instead, he opts, in Time and Free Will, for a weaker neo-Kantian Compatabilism, likely in anticipation of the reinforced Dualism of Matter and Memory, which relies heavily on segregating Habit from Freedom.

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