If we take an holistic, i.e. systems, view of human society we have to come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as free will. The individual is only a location within the system where the system's processes are playing out.
We may experience ourselves as individuals with free will struggling against impulses which we feel it would not be right to act upon, but the impulses come from the system and so do the ideas, factual information and beliefs, which cause us to exercise restraint. What is happening if we experience such an internal struggle is that tides which are larger than us are clashing in us. We are the location where this is happening, but we have no control over the process.
In the broad sense of the term the idea that there is such a thing as good and evil is a dualistic concept - that is one which divides phenomena into two opposing forces.
But the distinction between good and evil would only be useful if we had free will and could thus chose good behaviour and avoid evil behaviour. Since we don't have free will, we can't. All of our behaviour, whether constructive or destructive is a product of the wider system of which we are a part and over which we have no control.
From this systems view of humanity, it is precisely the idea that there is such a thing as good and evil which has acted like a virus to generate all of the behaviour we identify as evil.
And, since, all systems try to maintain equilibrium we can see that it is actually the fight against those forms of behaviour we identify as evil which generates that behaviour. If we try to push the system one way it will inevitably push back the other way. It is only acceptance which can bring harmony to the system.
This concept of the idea of good and evil as a virus contaminating the human system is, of course, expressed metaphorically in the story of Adam and Eve being cursed by eating from the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil. The only thing is that it wasn't knowledge but a delusional belief.
We may experience ourselves as individuals with free will struggling against impulses which we feel it would not be right to act upon, but the impulses come from the system and so do the ideas, factual information and beliefs, which cause us to exercise restraint. What is happening if we experience such an internal struggle is that tides which are larger than us are clashing in us. We are the location where this is happening, but we have no control over the process.
In the broad sense of the term the idea that there is such a thing as good and evil is a dualistic concept - that is one which divides phenomena into two opposing forces.
But the distinction between good and evil would only be useful if we had free will and could thus chose good behaviour and avoid evil behaviour. Since we don't have free will, we can't. All of our behaviour, whether constructive or destructive is a product of the wider system of which we are a part and over which we have no control.
From this systems view of humanity, it is precisely the idea that there is such a thing as good and evil which has acted like a virus to generate all of the behaviour we identify as evil.
And, since, all systems try to maintain equilibrium we can see that it is actually the fight against those forms of behaviour we identify as evil which generates that behaviour. If we try to push the system one way it will inevitably push back the other way. It is only acceptance which can bring harmony to the system.
This concept of the idea of good and evil as a virus contaminating the human system is, of course, expressed metaphorically in the story of Adam and Eve being cursed by eating from the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil. The only thing is that it wasn't knowledge but a delusional belief.
Literally have no idea how we can have no free will when you have chosen to write this article in this way whilst considering many other ways and I have chosen to write this comment over many other ways. What then would be the difference between adults and children, adults and animals?
ReplyDeleteWhat I'm suggesting is that the article as written is a product of the influences that originally come from outside of me and only have expression through me. I feel like I am making a choice but really the "choice" is taking place in me as a working out of different influences.
DeleteWe think of ourselves as finite entities, but this is an illusion as ideas are always entering our mind from things we hear or read and those ideas have a life of their own, perhaps clashing with each other or banding together, and when we sit down to write something comes out of which we are the location but not the original source. Of course, accumulated habits - relatively rigid structures within the system - such as spelling words correctly - play a role, but these are also formed by factors which do not originate with us, and whether they stick with us or they don't is determined by such things as our emotions, which are not made by us but rather what makes us what we are at any given moment. Our body is like a house with open windows and our soul is the wind that blows through those windows. We did not make our body and we do not control the winds.
I know that this is a difficult concept to wrap our heads around, but I think that if we can it helps to dissolve some of the embattlement of ego which separates us from our fellows.