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Critique Of Determinism In The Light Of Immanuel Kant
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1.2 DETERMINISM
This is a theory, which holds that every event
is necessitated. It means that the rigid laws of nature, the laws of
cause and effect govern every thing. This implies that this rigid law
of nature is also governing man, being a part of nature. By implication
therefore there is no question of freedom in man since he cannot help
doing what he finds himself doing. According to the determinists, all
our mental states and acts, including choices and decisions, and all our
actions are effects necessitated by preceding causes. Determinism, in
general, is the philosophical theory, which maintains that for
everything that ever happens there are antecedent conditions such that,
given them, nothing else could happen. Determinists consider belief in
self-determination or human freedom as an unscientific illusion.
These
determinists gave their reasons why man is not free. These then have
given rise to different forms of determinism. Let us now consider some
of these kinds of determinism.
1.3 KINDS OF DETERMINISM
There
are different kinds of determinism depending on the reasons given why
man is not free. Omoregbe Joseph enumerated five kinds of determinism
which include; “ethical determinism, theological determinism physical
determinism, psychological determinism and historical determinsnâ€3. We
also have logical determinism. Let us now consider these kinds of
determinism one after the other.
1.4 PHYSICAL DETERMINISM
Physical
determinism holds that all facts in the physical universe and hence
also in human history are absolutely dependent upon and conditioned by
their causes. This means that all things in nature, men included, behave
according to inviolable and unchanging laws of nature, which specify
all actions. This hinges on the assumption in physics that there are
certain fixed laws that the heavenly bodies and the universe as a whole
obey, such as the gravitational law, the law of conservation of energy,
the law of relativism, and a host of other natural laws. Human actions
and other events are not regarded as guided by moral considerations but
rather are determined by the rigid laws of nature.
In his view, Omoregbe opined that physical determinism denies the freedom of man. According to him;
Physical
determinism is the theory that man is not free because he is part of
physical law of nature and all his actions are determined by the
physical law of nature.4
This type of determinism can be easily
deduced from the thoughts of some philosophers. The atomic theory of
Democritus is a good example. According to this theory; “Things were
simply a combination of various kinds of atoms…â€5This means that
everything in nature, including the human person since he is part of
nature is a combination of various kinds of atoms. This theory goes as
far as holding that the human soul is made up of atoms of a smoother and
finer nature.
Thomas Hobbes materialism is a good example of a
deterministic interpretation of the human nature in the modern period.
He conceived man as completely material and man’s actions as totally
controlled [determined] by the physical law of nature. Unlike
Democritus who posited atoms in motion as responsible for all that is,
Hobbes posited or held that everything is as a result of matter in
motion. He denied the existence of immaterial substances or spiritual
elements in man. This implies that there is no freedom in man.
Reacting
against this, Omoregbe Joseph posed some questions. According to him,
is it possible to explain the human nature and the activities of man in
material terms? This and other such questions seem to have punctured
the arguments of materialists of the ilk of Thomas Hobbes.
1.5 ETHICAL DETERMINISM
The
advocates of ethical determinism hold that men’s actions are determined
by what they see as good. In other words, ethical determinism is a
theory that holds that men’s actions are determined by whatever they
perceive as good. Socrates and Plato are regarded as the foremost
founders of ethical determinism. According to them to know the good is
to do the good. Nobody does evil knowingly. St. Thomas Aquinas who
also held this view argued that just as the intellect is made for the
truth, and cannot help embracing it whenever it is found, so is the will
made for the good and is not free to reject when confronted with it.
It
is important to note here that most of the advocates of ethical
determinism did not deny the freedom of man. For instance, St. Thomas
Aquinas, in holding that man’s will is determined by the ultimate good
which for him is God, maintained that man at the same time exercises his
freedom when making choices among particular goods which St. Thomas
considered as the means to the ultimate end. Descartes, who opined that
man is determined by whatever he perceives as the highest good, added
that these, that is, knowing the good and being thereby determined by
the good, equally constitute human freedom.
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