{"id":242,"date":"2009-02-25T07:37:49","date_gmt":"2009-02-25T07:37:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/tonyjones\/2009\/02\/comment-of-the-day-35.html"},"modified":"2009-02-25T07:37:49","modified_gmt":"2009-02-25T07:37:49","slug":"comment-of-the-day-35","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/tonyjones\/2009\/02\/comment-of-the-day-35.html","title":{"rendered":"Comment of the Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

We’ve got a nice thread<\/a> going on free will and determinism around these parts.  Albert the Abstainer chimes in:<\/p>\n

\n

Real free will: An ability to choose alternatives such that the
\npossibility of an alternative action is real and not the product of a
\nparticular history of preceding events.<\/p>\n

Free will: A state wherein a person experiences the sense of
\nchoosing to act. The state itself is real, (i.e. existent\/emergent),
\nbut the action is the product of a particular history of preceding
\nevents. (In other words the actor does not have any degree of freedom.
\n) That requires that an act, other than the one which results, was a
\npossible outcome. This form of free will is subjective not actual.<\/p>\n

State: A state is a discrete condition. A mental state is a discrete
\nstate of mind. A machine state is a discrete state, (i.e. the switch is
\non or the switch is off.)<\/p>\n

” a place in the unfolding tapestry which is necessary and
\ncontingent” – the universe unfolds moment to moment changing with the
\npassing of time. I am a member of the set and process that is the
\nuniverse. My existence is necessary<\/i> by the fact that I exist. My existence is contingent<\/i> in that it requires a particular history, (i.e. another history could have occurred such that I do not exist.)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We’ve got a nice thread going on free will and determinism around these parts.  Albert the Abstainer chimes in: Real free will: An ability to choose alternatives such that the possibility of an alternative action is real and not the product of a particular history of preceding events. Free will: A state wherein a person…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":134,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comment-of-the-day","category-theology"],"yoast_head":"\nComment of the Day - The New Christians<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/tonyjones\/2009\/02\/comment-of-the-day-35.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Comment of the Day - The New Christians\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We’ve got a nice thread going on free will and determinism around these parts.  Albert the Abstainer chimes in: Real free will: An ability to choose alternatives such that the possibility of an alternative action is real and not the product of a particular history of preceding events. Free will: A state wherein a person…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/tonyjones\/2009\/02\/comment-of-the-day-35.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The New Christians\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-02-25T07:37:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tony Jones\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Comment of the Day - The New Christians","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/tonyjones\/2009\/02\/comment-of-the-day-35.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Comment of the Day - The New Christians","og_description":"We’ve got a nice thread going on free will and determinism around these parts.  Albert the Abstainer chimes in: Real free will: An ability to choose alternatives such that the possibility of an alternative action is real and not the product of a particular history of preceding events. 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