Calvin and Spinoza

When you think about it, Watterson should have named his classic cartoon "Calvin and Spinoza" instead of Calvin and Hobbes. This is because Calvin and Spinoza had different views on Determinism.

That is, the battle over Free Will versus Causality has been waged for as long as people have been capable of posing the question.

Two notable ideas come to mind: First off are the Stoics, who, while they had little to no scientific aptitude, thought that there was a natural order to everything. The little to no scientific aptitude part is kind of a big deal, which leads us into our next deal:

Chaucer had no notable conception of science. He was probably a courtier and a linguist, but besides that he was a story teller. In Troilus's speech from the epic poem Troilus and Criseyde, the character just says "Woe to me, for I am predetermined" in so many beautiful lines. Looking at war, which might as well be some immutable, unforgiving circumstance, anyone might disregard a choice. Where is the choice in a draft card?

Tom Smythe of North Carolina University, said that Religion and Philosophy are kissing cousins, and William Saletan of the Human Nature Blog on Slate, says that religion and science at their best complement each other. That is, John Calvin is the kissing cousin of Spinoza.

Spinoza was working off of both religion and science, and a blatant distaste for religion caused by 1) The Inquisition (look it up). Working as a lens grinder, he saw that Optics, or the study of light, always goes one way. Put light through a prism and it goes one way. Put light through a glass of water and you can mathematically spot the angles. Looking at this, who wouldn't say that everything is determined?

Two really important conclusions:

A) To some extent it is more about what you say than how you say it. Spinoza's belief in a causally based universe is ultimately pseudo-religious. Saying "God's got a plan," which is what people say when someone dies for no reason, and saying, "God is the plan," are really, really close. Saying, "Everything has a reason," and "Everything has a cause," seem really, really close, too. When Einstein was pressed if he believes in God, he said, "I believe in Spinoza's God."
In Parallel, Calvin opened up one of the classic Protestant Reformations of Catholicism by introducing what I'm guessing is a closer relationship between the leader of the service and the congregation. One of the spin-offs to Calvinism is Presbyterianism, which, while it has many forms, usually emphasizes such a strong relationship between congregation and leader, where sometimes the leader is even called a Presbyter. (Curiously, only a part of the Presbyterians openly acknowledge "God's Plan"-Determinism stuffs).


B) One of our more important counterarguments to Determinism might be science itself. This past summer I talked to a Professor at the internationally ranked Hamilton College (Sister School to UNC). She is a Professor of Optics and the school, who's ranks you might look up for yourself, only has 6 tenured Physics positions. Academia in America is like the NBA of Basketball in terms of Competition.
In any case, this esteemed professor told me that she believes in Free Will. She cited the Orsay experiments (France, 1980's). She then had one of her colleagues offer a long and complex explanation, comparing particles to a ball that is thrown through a window, but instead of something normal happening, two balls come out of one window.


A nice bow on all of this is that Einstein, whom religious persons cite all of the time, said God does not role the dice. But in saying that, I don't think there's any room for Free Will whatsoever.