{"id":210,"date":"2017-06-25T09:15:06","date_gmt":"2017-06-25T14:15:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gaillardian.com\/?p=210"},"modified":"2020-04-05T19:11:08","modified_gmt":"2020-04-05T19:11:08","slug":"straw-dogies-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gaillardian.com\/index.php\/2017\/06\/25\/straw-dogies-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Straw Dogies (2\/4)"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Humans as Animals Lacking Free-will<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the most frequently discussed hypotheses in Straw Dogs is the idea that humans are lacking a radical separation from the animals. Gray\u2019s main purpose behind reminding us of this seems to be rooted in one of the conclusions that allegedly follows from it: Namely, that free-will cannot exist if we believe the former to be true. Gray postulates that, in the world of Darwin, humans and animals alike are \u201cproducts of chance and necessity,\u201d and goes on to maintain that \u201cwe cannot choose to be what we are born. In that case, we cannot be responsible for what we do\u201d<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_210_1('footnote_plugin_reference_210_1_1');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_210_1('footnote_plugin_reference_210_1_1');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_210_1_1\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[1]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_210_1_1\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\"> &nbsp;John Gray. <i>Straw Dogs<\/i>. 1st ed. N.p.: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007. Print. (65).<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_210_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_210_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>. Therefore, one is not the author of his own actions; he has no free-will and thus can only react to external stimuli<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_210_1('footnote_plugin_reference_210_1_2');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_210_1('footnote_plugin_reference_210_1_2');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_210_1_2\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[2]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_210_1_2\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\"> &nbsp;Ibid.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_210_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_210_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>. This observation changes the entire outlook on life for Gray. Purpose becomes an invalid premise replaced by a single aim&#8211;to simply see <span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_210_1('footnote_plugin_reference_210_1_3');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_210_1('footnote_plugin_reference_210_1_3');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_210_1_3\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[3]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_210_1_3\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\"> &nbsp;Ibid. (199).<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_210_1_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_210_1_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>.<\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The argument is a persuasive one, but if we look a little closer there seem to be some potential problems. Firstly, there is no account as to why we should believe that humans are no different from the animals. We are told that this follows from Darwin&#8217;s discoveries; however, this is not obvious and needs further explanation. For instance, Alvin Plantinga, a well respected contemporary philosopher, believes that evolution and free-will are compatible, as evidenced in his book God, Freedom, and Evil and his evolutionary argument against naturalism. He even goes so far as to state that it is not evolution and free-will that are incompatible, but evolution and naturalism.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Secondly, it is a leap in logic to say \u201cwe cannot choose to be what we are born.\u201d Thus \u201cwe cannot be responsible for what we do.\u201d Why not? It is not clear. This simply doesn\u2019t follow by necessity and thus needs an additional premise or at minimum needs further explanation. It is possible that he is presupposing the inability of a free thing to be formed from a non-free thing. But it doesn\u2019t seem clear that this is the case. In fact, from our experience, thinking of ourselves, it seems to be quite clear that free things can be formed from non-free things.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And lastly, the conclusion that life\u2019s aim is merely to \u201csee,\u201d is a contradiction as Gray himself points out. \u201cOther animals do not need a purpose in life. A contradiction to itself, the human animal cannot do without one.\u201d So we discover that this aim to see, which has supposedly replaced life\u2019s need for a purpose, is itself a purpose. Thus in Gray\u2019s own words, and in the conclusion to Straw Dogs, no less, we find at least one clear distinction between animals and humans&#8211;humans need a purpose and animals do not.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"speaker-mute footnotes_reference_container\"> <div class=\"footnote_container_prepare\"><p><span role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" class=\"footnote_reference_container_label pointer\" onclick=\"footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_210_1();\">References<\/span><span role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" class=\"footnote_reference_container_collapse_button\" style=\"display: none;\" onclick=\"footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_210_1();\">[<a id=\"footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_210_1\">+<\/a>]<\/span><\/p><\/div> <div id=\"footnote_references_container_210_1\" style=\"\"><table class=\"footnotes_table footnote-reference-container\"><caption class=\"accessibility\">References<\/caption> <tbody> \r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_210_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_210_1_1');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_210_1_1\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>1<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\"> &nbsp;John Gray. <i>Straw Dogs<\/i>. 1st ed. N.p.: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007. Print. (65).<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_210_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_210_1_2');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_210_1_2\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>2<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\"> &nbsp;Ibid.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_210_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_210_1_3');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_210_1_3\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>3<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\"> &nbsp;Ibid. (199).<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n <\/tbody> <\/table> <\/div><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> function footnote_expand_reference_container_210_1() { jQuery('#footnote_references_container_210_1').show(); jQuery('#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_210_1').text('\u2212'); } function footnote_collapse_reference_container_210_1() { jQuery('#footnote_references_container_210_1').hide(); jQuery('#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_210_1').text('+'); } function footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_210_1() { if (jQuery('#footnote_references_container_210_1').is(':hidden')) { footnote_expand_reference_container_210_1(); } else { footnote_collapse_reference_container_210_1(); } } function footnote_moveToReference_210_1(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container_210_1(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery('#' + p_str_TargetID); if (l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery( 'html, body' ).delay( 0 ); jQuery('html, body').animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top - window.innerHeight * 0.2 }, 380); } } function footnote_moveToAnchor_210_1(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container_210_1(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery('#' + p_str_TargetID); if (l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery( 'html, body' ).delay( 0 ); jQuery('html, body').animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top - window.innerHeight * 0.2 }, 380); } }<\/script>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Humans as Animals Lacking Free-will One of the most frequently discussed hypotheses in Straw Dogs is the idea that humans are lacking a radical separation from the animals. Gray\u2019s main purpose behind reminding us of this seems to be rooted in one of the conclusions that allegedly follows from it: Namely, that free-will cannot exist [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":245,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gaillardian.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gaillardian.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gaillardian.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gaillardian.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gaillardian.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gaillardian.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":253,"href":"https:\/\/gaillardian.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210\/revisions\/253"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gaillardian.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gaillardian.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gaillardian.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gaillardian.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}