It’s not the mans fault, no, and he is not morally responsible, according to determinism.
According to determinist theories every action is predestined, simply following the physical laws of the universe. Determinism postulates that our consciousness is nothing more than a by-product /illusion arising from the brain, controlled and dictated by it.
The implications this has on me are as follows:
I try not to blame anyone for anything. I try to remind myself that it is not their fault, as they could not have done differently.
This means that i find punishment to be immoral. I believe only in rehabilitation.
It’s true the man might have been predestined to buy and sell drugs, it’s not his fault, but he still presents a problem for society which needs to be fixed.
Determinists are not passivists.
The implications determinism has on the idea of choice and free will are as follows:
Choice is an illusion. A choice is when our brain makes a calculation and weighs two or more options, and then selects one…
Calcuators have this same sort of choice, yet we do not think of ourselves as constricted in their fashion.
Most people think of themselves and believe they are alive, they are somebody, that they are greater than the sum of their parts.
It can even go down to what people believe is the nature of the human soul. Determinists say that we have no soul to make us exist, as we function just like robots, and robots don’t have souls.
Freedom becomes something of a stranger, among determinists you always need to put “illusion of” infront of the word “freedom”.
And then determinism leads some people to a sort of nihilism. They think since nothing is changeable or controllable, nothing matters (something like that), they sigh and say that their destiny is a coldly calculated one…
But what has changed since they learned of determinism? Before they ever questioned free will they most likely believed that inside them was great unknown potential, that the future was an exciting and mysterious place… And after they learn determinism they see everything in mono-color… depressing isn’t it?
but again what has changed?
The future is still unkown, still mysterious.
You still think you make choices… What you experience are choices…
With determinism pleasure still feels pleasurable, you can still feel pain…
Being agnostic i sort of run down the line on a few issues… And it’s easy to on this topic, because in my opinion it changes very little.