tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post5161950067068228293..comments2024-02-25T05:24:24.948-05:00Comments on Beyond Easy: Tolstoy on Free Will & NecessityPatrick Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02410016566636603639noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post-9061336961607165092021-03-10T20:55:37.839-05:002021-03-10T20:55:37.839-05:00The first time Tolstoy introduces this concept is ...The first time Tolstoy introduces this concept is in the lead-up to the War of 1812 as Napoleon crosses the Niemann and the invasion of Russia. What struck me recently is that this chapter comes after the final act of Natasha's great shame-- her fall for Anatole and attempt to elope as she breaks off the engagement with Prince Andrei. Andrei has left Moscow in an attempt to find Anatole and try to find a pretext for a duel-- but instead simply seals his fate by joining the Army again as Kutuzov's adjutant. Natasha is bitter and depressed after being denied and after her somewhat half-hearted suicide attempt. So here's the question? Doesn't Tolstoy's theory apply just as much to her and these critical series of actions? How much free will did she have in her engagement to begin with, in Andrei's father's refusal to approve the marriage without a year delay, in Anatole's appearance at the opera, etc, etc. In other words, I don't think it was coincidental that Tolstoy chose to follow what was perhaps the key plot element of the "Peace" with his first rejection of free will in the beginning of the climactic description of the "War".Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04717911506810555153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post-84895930601761142592020-09-17T11:31:59.230-04:002020-09-17T11:31:59.230-04:00Allow me to recommend BF Skinner's "About...Allow me to recommend BF Skinner's "About Behaviorism" if you'd like to ponder the matter further. Patrick Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02410016566636603639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post-77626758557375861492020-09-15T15:05:00.069-04:002020-09-15T15:05:00.069-04:00I read War & Peace last year, and since then, ...I read War & Peace last year, and since then, I've read and reread Part 2 of the Epilogue twice. Your blog and the other comments are on point, but I find myself focusing on the "necessity" component of Tolstoy's reasoning and, by analogy, Darwin's "Natural Selection" and Hegel's Dialectical Materialism - determinism, not founded on mysticism.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07331217421896933961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post-1144813233428443282016-02-03T01:09:04.255-05:002016-02-03T01:09:04.255-05:00I really need to read Karenina. The next Tolstoy b...I really need to read Karenina. The next Tolstoy book on my list is a collection of his religious writings. And then maybe "What Is Art?" because it seems to piss off everyone who reads it.<br /><br />If behaviorism cannot account for "random" behavior, it is because of technological limitations that might be insurmountable. That mightn't be such a bad thing, though.<br /><br />The significance of the free will vs. behavioral determinism matter is largely brought to bear where social organization is concerned. A culture that believes everyone is absolutely responsible for their own actions is more likely to care less about, say, social welfare programs: "the ignorant and poor CHOOSE not to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, so fuck 'em."<br /><br />Meanwhile, closer to the left, Noam Chomsky railed against Skinner because he believed Skinner was essentially trying to draft a guidebook for authoritarian control. I would not say his concerns are unfounded. A totalitarian government whose leaders accept that human behavior is almost completely under environmental control will understand that the repressive quashing of dissidents is less effective than producing a society where the notion of dissent never crosses anyone's mind. (Brave New World, remember, is about a world where an authoritarian government keeps the populace ignorant and in line through a regimen of positive reinforcement.)Patrick Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02410016566636603639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post-55844706222075234042016-01-26T10:56:22.446-05:002016-01-26T10:56:22.446-05:00I prefer Anna Karenina, personally, but it doesn&#...I prefer Anna Karenina, personally, but it doesn't really say much different about free will.<br /><br />As far as free will versus agency goes, I don't think it really matters. Behaviourism is interesting to consider as a means of explaining human actions, although I think it can be twisted in an attempt to absolve people from responsibility for their actions, and it can seem lacking if you use it to try and explain some people's seemingly random behaviour (why did I buy chicken breasts instead of chicken thighs today?). Free will theories are similarly lacking once you realize how limited your control over life is, and other people's over theirs. This lack of control is really evident in people with addiction problems (who simply cannot stop injecting themselves with heroin, for example), but I know I'll never suddenly decide to pick up a gun and shoot someone for no reason, since I've been conditioned by society to view that type of behaviour as unacceptable. Not being a gun-toting maniac is only one example out of countless of the ways society has influenced my behaviour and actions.<br /><br />But, again, I don't really think it matters if I'm actually controlling my life or only operating under an illusion of doing so. I don't believe that my existence is diminished by a lack of control, or that I'm special somehow if I do have agency (as so would everybody else). Adam E.https://www.blogger.com/profile/15301656119538410691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post-61941016198788363272016-01-24T14:46:30.083-05:002016-01-24T14:46:30.083-05:00Oh my god. How could I have forgotten to mention W...Oh my god. How could I have forgotten to mention Watchmen?!Patrick Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02410016566636603639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post-1196915506826253502016-01-24T14:13:13.983-05:002016-01-24T14:13:13.983-05:00Beautiful rumination. I've never actually read...Beautiful rumination. I've never actually read Tolstoy, I admit with some shame. The Idiot remains the densest Russian work I've picked up. <br /><br />Funny thing thinking about the Soul Reaver games vis-a-vis determinism; I think the work of fiction that opened my eyes to the concept was Watchmen, with Dr. Manhattan basically being an invincible god who, through the way he perceived time, was totally impotent and helpless.Ivan T. W.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07864445965228639180noreply@blogger.com