Quote:
Originally Posted by Q mystic
If there is no free will, there is no punishment right?
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That's exactly his point, whether the action is made of "free will" is irrelevant. I've had this discussion a number of times and as I see it the important issue is this. Even if the future is predetermined it is not known to us before hand. When we make any action or have any thought we do so with the illusion of free will. In other words we are free to make any choice we wish, even if we were predetermined to always make a particular choice. Because of that we are responsible for the choices we make.
To take it a step further, and more in line with the previous point, the point of punishment is justice. If someone is murdered it is irrelevant to the victim whether the murderer is punished. But, the reason the criminal is punished is to satisfy the society’s sense of justice.