This is a misunderstanding of the idea of determinism. Lack of free will does not contend with the fact of consciousness or states of “mind”. Free will can be an illusion while conscious is perfectly real which of course is obvious or there would be no debate. Things like the state of being convinced and the state of being grateful (like Sam was grateful to his wife) are states of conscious that don’t require free will because you don’t choose to experience them. For example, I don’t choose to be convinced that 1+1=2, In fact I couldn’t choose not to be convinced of that, it’s just a factual state of my being. In other words, there are objective truths of subjective experience and those objective truths are determined.
But free will can exist in an atheistic worldview. Not all atheism is based on materialism. Some atheists do believe in souls but they lack a believe in god. And you could possibly argue, that you cannot have free will when you are able to choose something. Because choosing totally free would mean that your decisions are random. But they are not because you are in individual with a will. But your will may be determined by your genetics and your experiences which build up your synapses in your brain. So you can be determined but still a person with a will and the ability to decide because of comparative analyses of your brain. That decisions are not free, but still it is you deciding because you are that individual.
@@TheGoodBible I think so, because atheism is not the same as materialism. You can certainly believe in reincarnation, for example, without believing in God. Life, or the soul, could be understood as energy that cannot be lost. Atheists might see this as a law of nature. This does not mean that they can explain where the soul comes from, but they could understand that it must be that way because the universe dictates it. Or that the universe, for example, goes through the same cycles again and again from one Big Crunsh to the next with the creation of souls, etc. Even though this is all just speculation and I personally do not believe in a soul, one can certainly believe in a soul as an atheist. What do you think would preclude belief in such a thing as an atheist?
This is a misunderstanding of the idea of determinism. Lack of free will does not contend with the fact of consciousness or states of “mind”. Free will can be an illusion while conscious is perfectly real which of course is obvious or there would be no debate. Things like the state of being convinced and the state of being grateful (like Sam was grateful to his wife) are states of conscious that don’t require free will because you don’t choose to experience them. For example, I don’t choose to be convinced that 1+1=2, In fact I couldn’t choose not to be convinced of that, it’s just a factual state of my being. In other words, there are objective truths of subjective experience and those objective truths are determined.
But free will can exist in an atheistic worldview. Not all atheism is based on materialism. Some atheists do believe in souls but they lack a believe in god.
And you could possibly argue, that you cannot have free will when you are able to choose something. Because choosing totally free would mean that your decisions are random. But they are not because you are in individual with a will. But your will may be determined by your genetics and your experiences which build up your synapses in your brain.
So you can be determined but still a person with a will and the ability to decide because of comparative analyses of your brain. That decisions are not free, but still it is you deciding because you are that individual.
Atheism cannot support a soul. It's a contradiction.
@@TheGoodBible I think so, because atheism is not the same as materialism. You can certainly believe in reincarnation, for example, without believing in God. Life, or the soul, could be understood as energy that cannot be lost. Atheists might see this as a law of nature. This does not mean that they can explain where the soul comes from, but they could understand that it must be that way because the universe dictates it. Or that the universe, for example, goes through the same cycles again and again from one Big Crunsh to the next with the creation of souls, etc.
Even though this is all just speculation and I personally do not believe in a soul, one can certainly believe in a soul as an atheist.
What do you think would preclude belief in such a thing as an atheist?
@@TheGoodBible Why do you think so?