Free Will vs. Spiritual Determinism
In my last article, linked here, I reviewed an internationally renowned expert on the Western tradition’s philosophical and mystical roots, Peter Kingsley, and his view of the “Spiritual Determinism” embodied in Empedocles’ stories of the cosmos and soul. In this article, I want to examine Kingsley and Empedocles’ determinism, but first, I want to review their position. If you are already familiar with it, feel free to scroll down to the section entitled “Free Will vs. Determinism.
It’s all Determined for Kingsley
To briefly summarize the stories of the cosmos and soul, Empedocles believed everything, including human souls, began in the heavens, where everything was perfect. Then there were two falls. The first was into Aphrodite’s realm as humans were lured out of the heavens by her deceptive love. The second occurred when humans, as they were destined to do, broke Aphrodite’s laws and were thus thrown into this finite earthly existence filled with suffering, pain, and violence.
Eventually, however, with the help of teachers like Empedocles, humans find their way back to the heavens, where the cycle starts all over again. This cycle repeats itself in perpetuity. Kingsley maintains that the whole thing is entirely determined. We are determined to fall out of the heavens and return time and time again.
This unending cycle leads Kingsley to ask, if it is all preordained from the get-go, then why make any effort at all? Why not just sit back and do nothing since we are predestined to return to the heavens anyway? Kingsley responds that we strive to return because we are programmed to.
“We are bound to do whatever we can to become more conscious.”
From Motion to Stillness
Kingsley says we have to see through the illusion of this world to return to the heavens. When we finally become aware of this ongoing cycle, we realize this constant change is really no change at all. All this motion is no motion. It is just the same thing over and over.
When we understand this, we experience the stillness at the core of all this change. It’s like moving from the rim of a turning wheel to the stillness of its hub. We still go through the motions of living in this world but realize it’s all just a game. It mirrors that saying,
“Before I was enlightened, I chopped wood and carried water. After I was enlightened, I chopped wood and carried water, but it was completely different.”
We play our part but don’t get caught up in it. We see it for what it is.
Kingsley describes it this way,
“We go through the apparent motions of making unreal choices and decisions, being glad or disappointed, seeming to prefer this to that or that to this.
“But inwardly, it’s all over. The drama has no substance.
“To find that stillness means neither being drawn into the illusions nor trying to escape them. It means that, even when trapped, we are free.”
Free Will vs. Spiritual Determinism
The issue I want to explore in this article is whether we are as programmed as Kingsley maintains. It’s important to point out that Kingsley is talking about a “spiritual determinism” and not the physical one that Newton, Galileo, and Descartes advocated.
It’s an issue I have thought and debated about. It’s hard for me, and many others, to let go of the idea we don’t have free will. Free will gives life meaning and motivates us to feel we can make a difference.
It also means we have to take responsibility for our actions. If everything is predetermined, we can’t be held responsible for anything we do, be it child molestation, murder, or helping someone in need.
Kingsley, however, has an answer for that. He says we are programmed to believe we have free will even though we don’t.
William James vs. Peter Kingsley
The idea that we are strictly determined is a tricky proposition and impossible to prove or disprove. The American pragmatic philosopher William James believed that because we live as if we have free will, that’s a good reason to believe we do. Of course, James, the pragmatist, knows he can’t prove this one way or the other but still draws a different conclusion than Kingsley.
If we accept there is an intelligent intention embedded in the universe guiding it, as Kingsley does, the question becomes, has this “Intelligence” already preordained everything? Kingsley, along with Empedocles, thinks it has. So they believe there is no free will, but the universe’s intelligence has programmed us to believe there is.
So, was Eve pre-programmed to eat the apple in the garden, or was it her free choice? Did the Universe’s Intelligence have this act as part of its plan? It is easier to argue for this if we believe the universe’s intelligence is a personal God. However, if it is an impersonal intelligence, it’s open to question.
The Quantum Physics’ View
I like to look to quantum physics for some insight. Quantum physics has disproved causal determinism. In other words, there isn’t just one way for the future to unfold, but multiple ways. Quantum physics gives us the probabilities of each of those ways occurring.
It’s similar to how insurance companies analyze the probability of auto accidents in different regions. Higher-trafficked areas will have more accidents than lower-trafficked ones. So, while they can’t predict if I will have an accident, they can predict the probability of my having one is greater in higher trafficked areas than in lower trafficked ones.
Expanding that concept to whether Eve will bite the apple, quantum physics would say there are degrees of probability of Eve biting it, but it’s not absolute. We won’t know if she will bite it until she actually does or doesn’t.
So, let’s say she decides to eat the apple of her own free will. Let’s also say this goes against the Intelligence Universe’s plan. What now?
Martin Luther King Weighs In
The Reverend Martin Luther King said,
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
If we accept that quote, then even if Eve chooses to eat the apple out of free will, disrupting the Universe’s plan, the universe will compensate for that action and eventually bring itself back to its original intent. In this view, there is a degree of freedom and randomness, but it will all be enmeshed in the overall scheme of things.
Was Life on Earth Preordained?
In my book, The Magical Universe, I used the example of our planet Earth. Was this planet, with the perfect size and distance from the sun for life and consciousness to evolve, preordained? I answered yes and no.
Yes, because the universe intends life and consciousness to evolve somewhere. But no, because it didn’t have to occur on this particular planet, Earth.
The point is that life and consciousness were destined to evolve, but where they might pop up was open to the probabilities we discussed earlier.
In addition, as we look at our fate with the growing threat of climate change and its potential to end life as we know it on this planet, we wonder if this is also part of the Universe’s plan. As with Kingsley, will the universe predetermine that there will be a rise in consciousness at the last minute, waking us up before it’s too late? Who knows? It’s a long shot, but miracles do happen.
Are We Preordained to Survive Climate Change?
Maybe the universe has created intelligent life on many planets, knowing that many of these life forms will destroy themselves, but some won’t. Which ones will make it and which won’t are subject to the probability formulas of quantum physics. But the universe has preordained that some will survive to continue its evolutionary work, though it doesn’t know which ones.
In conclusion, I side with believing in free will in the broader context of an evolutionary universe that always bends toward justice, no matter how far we stray. Of course, that doesn’t mean our planet will necessarily succeed. It’s up to us whether we will be one of the winners or losers in the evolutionary game.
To learn more about the Intelligence and Magic of the Universe: Click this link: The Magical Universe
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