The Most Dangerous Idea: “You Do Not Have Free Will”
Philosophy and Humanity’s Most Dangerous Idea
I recently submitted a paper on inter-religious dialogue. The paper was accepted for publication but one comment made by one of the reviewers was disturbing. It was in response to this sentence in my paper:
Fruitful dialogue and relations between religions is possible only with a willingness to question one’s own assumptions and an openness to the ideas and experiences of other people.
to which the reviewer remarked:
”One cannot choose to be open or tolerant, it’s a result of neurochemistry that human beings cannot influence.”
The reviewer demanded I remove my sentence. I refused. The editor backed me up.
Let the reviewer’s comment sink in. This person, allegedly a professional on-faculty philosopher, not only believes human beings cannot choose to not be intolerant to others, he wants to censor a mention that we can be.
This person believes that we lack free will, that we cannot even question our assumptions and beliefs. Everything about us, this person claims, is determined and we cannot influence it. This view that we lack free will, that we are helplessly the result of chemistry or external events, is not unique to this person. It is a belief that some people have chosen (yes, I mean that word) and it has bubbled into the mix of philosophical debate for a long time.
The Dangerous Ideology of Denial
The implications of this person’s view are chilling and shows how the idea that humans lack free will is the most dangerous idea humans have invented. The reviewer implies (backed up in several other comments) that we cannot promote dialogue and understanding between people. This person’s view is that fruitful dialogue and relations between people either happen or they don’t based on people’s chemical makeup. We cannot affect it. People who refuse to listen and consider other points of view cannot help it. Bigots cannot help being bigots, they may be born that way. They also cannot change. They cannot even question their bigotry. By extension — we cannot question their attitudes and actions.