KacyRay Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Greetings all - name is Kacy Ray. I'm a 40 year old married guy, currently serving as the Combat Cargo Officer on the USS Kearsarge. I became interested in Objectivism about 23 years ago by listening to early Rush albums, but have since transitioned to a lower-case objectivist, and then to an independant philosphy heavily informed by objectivist principles.I solidly agree with objectivist metaphysics. I hold reason as a primary absolute and I find Rand's theory of concepts to be the primary influence on my own epistemological views. The most significant point in which I break with Objectivist epistemology is on the topic of free will - I don't believe free will can necessarily exist. This is something I would like to discuss on one of the forums when I get a chance.I look forward to participating in these threads - the ones I've read so far seem pretty intersting and the quality of posting seems pretty high. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthony Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Good to hear from you, Kacy. You have an interesting life, and ideas.Welcome! Glad your free will brought you on board... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9thdoctor Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Hey Kacy, it’s Dennis. Haven’t seen you in quite a while. Eric posts here too, though pretty rarely and under a weird name that I can’t think of right now. Usually critical material with some kind of depressing inflection to it, like you’d expect. Last I heard you were based in Hawaii, whereabouts are you now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KacyRay Posted February 11, 2013 Author Share Posted February 11, 2013 Hey there Dennis... Eric led me here. He told me you were here - I'm just glad I'm able to reach this site from the ship, although I'm not sure I'll be able to once we head East. I know he postws here, but he likes to make sure no one can identify him. It drives his legions of fans, admireres, and stalkers absolutely crazy, but there's no accounting for preference.I've moved to Virginia for now, based out of Norfolk. What new with you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KacyRay Posted February 11, 2013 Author Share Posted February 11, 2013 Good to hear from you, Kacy. You have an interesting life, and ideas.Welcome! Glad your free will brought you on board...Thanks!I'll head over to one of the other boards and start talking about free will in a while. Just as a preview... I haven't yet heard an argument in favor of free will (even from Rand) that didn't involve either mysticism or special pleading. Anyhow, hope to see you there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Kacy,Welcome to OL.I hope you enjoy it.The most significant point in which I break with Objectivist epistemology is on the topic of free will - I don't believe free will can necessarily exist. This is something I would like to discuss on one of the forums when I get a chance..Do you want to discuss this of your own free will? Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle Jacob Biodrowski Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Kacy,If you don't already know of these articles and discussions, you might find them interesting.http://rebirthofreason.com/Articles/BissellRE/Objectivism_and_Determinism.shtmlhttp://rebirthofreason.com/Articles/Rowlands/Thoughts_on_Free_Will_and_Determinism.shtmlhttp://rebirthofreason.com/Articles/Machan/Free_Will_or_Not.shtmlI especially enjoy reading Tibor Machan's "Free Will or Not" and the subsequent discussion. I often use the discussion as a referent whenever I return to, think about, the idea of determinism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KacyRay Posted February 11, 2013 Author Share Posted February 11, 2013 Kacy,If you don't already know of these articles and discussions, you might find them interesting.http://rebirthofreason.com/Articles/BissellRE/Objectivism_and_Determinism.shtmlhttp://rebirthofreason.com/Articles/Rowlands/Thoughts_on_Free_Will_and_Determinism.shtmlhttp://rebirthofreason.com/Articles/Machan/Free_Will_or_Not.shtmlI especially enjoy reading Tibor Machan's "Free Will or Not" and the subsequent discussion. I often use the discussion as a referent whenever I return to, think about, the idea of determinism.As a former Objectivist hardliner, I'm not unfamiliar with the Objectivists position on free will... but I will try to find some time to read these articles before I start going into topic. It's not like I am arbitrarily rejecting the idea, and the last idea I ever thought I'd accept is determinism of any sort whatsoever. Believe me, it still doesn't even "feel" right coming off my tongue... but as I'm sure you'll agree, we have to go where the evidence demands, not where our convictions dictate.I'm writing these posts at work (actually, I live at work, so it's never easy to find a bunch of time), so I'll get over to an appropriate discussion forum soon, I promise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthony Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Actually: evidence ~ plus ~ conviction, sounds like the perfect explanation of volition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KacyRay Posted February 11, 2013 Author Share Posted February 11, 2013 Kyle,Great articles, and it appears the argument I formulated on my own has already been vetted quite thoroughly through the objectivist/intellectual commuity. Now I almost don't even want to go bringing up the topic seeing as how exhaustively my own argument has already been covered.I had no illusions that I was the only one thinking that the idea of free will runs into conflicts with the law of identity... I just didn't realize the argument had been made so well by so many other folks. I also see the counter arguments, and I'll probably weight them on my own before bringing them up in a forum. Thanks for sharing those links. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle Jacob Biodrowski Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 Kacy,Yep, lots of gold in those archives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serapis Bey Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 "Eric posts here too, though pretty rarely and under a weird name that I can't think of right now. Usually critical material with some kind of depressing inflection to it, like you'd expect."The name's Peregrine777, Dennis.Peregrine....very noble bird, IMO. Like the falcon, I too prefer to fancy myself an inhabitant of great heights, perched far above the cacophany of the rabble below, gazing outward with steely eyes, my...er...*its* luxurious hair gently held aloft by the mountain air, for what seems like days at a time. Once in a while, when his appetite demands it, his superlative vision tracks a juicy target below the clouds, and he dive bombs at 200mph to attack swiftly...precisely...DECISIVELY...only to return from whence he came....I suppose this could be viewed alternatively as the actions of a troll, but... whatevs. You say "tomato"...But apparently my nom de guerre has achieved no purchase here. Very well. the time has come at last to throw away this mask now everyone can see my true identity... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caroljane Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 "Eric posts here too, though pretty rarely and under a weird name that I can't think of right now. Usually critical material with some kind of depressing inflection to it, like you'd expect."The name's Peregrine777, Dennis.Peregrine....very noble bird, IMO. Like the falcon, I too prefer to fancy myself an inhabitant of great heights, perched far above the cacophany of the rabble below, gazing outward with steely eyes, my...er...*its* luxurious hair gently held aloft by the mountain air, for what seems like days at a time. Once in a while, when his appetite demands it, his superlative vision tracks a juicy target below the clouds, and he dive bombs at 200mph to attack swiftly...precisely...DECISIVELY...only to return from whence he came....I suppose this could be viewed alternatively as the actions of a troll, but... whatevs. You say "tomato"...But apparently my nom de guerre has achieved no purchase here. Very well.the time has come at lastto throw away this masknow everyone can seemy true identity...and O alas! T'is he! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KacyRay Posted February 15, 2013 Author Share Posted February 15, 2013 I knew it was Peregrene... seen it used on other forums, as well as the "Rush 2112" posing on the Music board here. I figured he'd swoop down eventually. Heh... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaalChatzaf Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 Greetings all - name is Kacy Ray. I'm a 40 year old married guy, currently serving as the Combat Cargo Officer on the USS Kearsarge. I became interested in Objectivism about 23 years ago by listening to early Rush albums, but have since transitioned to a lower-case objectivist, and then to an independant philosphy heavily informed by objectivist principles.I solidly agree with objectivist metaphysics. I hold reason as a primary absolute and I find Rand's theory of concepts to be the primary influence on my own epistemological views. The most significant point in which I break with Objectivist epistemology is on the topic of free will - I don't believe free will can necessarily exist. This is something I would like to discuss on one of the forums when I get a chance.I look forward to participating in these threads - the ones I've read so far seem pretty intersting and the quality of posting seems pretty high. Cheers.Free-will (so called) is actually stealth determinism. It puts deterministic causes within our intellectual and emotional center. It won't do. Random stuff happen in our brains, because our brains are purely physical entities. In fact everything in the Cosmo outside our skins is physical. Ba'al Chatzaf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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