The Thought Occurs

Tuesday 11 June 2013

Reconstruing Determinism Through Metalanguage

The notion of determinism conflates two angles: one ideational, one interpersonal. 

Ideationally, determinism can be seen to involve the logical relation of cause; interpersonally, it can be seen to involve modality. 

For propositions about cause, the congruent modality is modalisation: usuality and probability. 

Statements of cause and effect are concerned with usuality and probability, as demonstrated by quantum physics and non-linear systems. 

Interpretations of determinism couched in terms of obligation (eg necessity) are therefore incongruent.