The Better Angels of Our Nature

人類有自由去為善,亦有自由去為惡;過去一百年,人類文明暴力續漸消減。會唔會有一日,人類社會上完全唔再有暴力?

The Better Angels of Our Nature
Photo by Duncan Sanchez / Unsplash

01,「性本善 vs 性本惡」呢個題目,真係 so yesteryear 。近年嘅爭議,又返去:「人,究竟有冇自由意志?」最近 Guardian 有篇 long read 都好多人轉載:

The clockwork universe: is free will an illusion?
The long read: A growing chorus of scientists and philosophers argue that free will does not exist. Could they be right?

02,假如話人根本無自由意志,性善定性惡呢個辯題,可以慳返。因為最終答案係:「人,性本空。」

03,人究竟係唔係有自由意志呢個爭議,並唔係近代先至有。好耐好耐之前,由人類有文明開始,就已經有兩派。信唔信人有自由意志呢回事,好 binary,一係信,一係唔信。

04,如果你睇上面 Guardian 篇 long read,裡面有提到一門學說叫 compatibilitism ;呢門派認為自由意志同 determinism 係可以並存;但我個人就覺得,呢門派嘅邏輯,唔夠乾淨利落。甚至乎,我覺得 compatibilitism 係否定唔到 determinism 嘅論證,然後就夾硬話對方未能夠完全否定自由意志存在嘅可能。

05,之前個幾月,我經常提到 F Scott Fitzgerald 嘅名句:「一流嘅腦袋,可以同時處理南轅北轍嘅兩個概念,但又唔會撞機。」(The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function)自由意志嘅存在與否,就真係千古以來對呢個 Fitzgerald Test 嘅最佳測驗。