Re: Causes / was Re: Heterodoxers are crackpots / God

[Harry Veeder <eo200@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The concepts of initial and final cause are not to be given theological
significance. Initial cause does not mean "the first" cause; it means the
starting point of a process.  Final cause does not mean "the last" cause, so
I was not giving God a necessary role in economics nor was I identifying God
with final cause, nor was I abandoning science.

I was trying to show how acceptance of fundamental uncertainty in economics
does not necessarily compel the religious to believe that God must play dice
(or make "arbitrary decisions").

Harry Veeder

> From: "John M. Legge" <jlegge@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: Mon, 26 Aug 2002 19:14:33 +1000
> To: pkt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: Causes / was Re: Heterodoxers are crackpots / God
>
> Harry,
>
> God can have three roles in economics:
> a) she can be a convenient fiction
> b) she can play dice (or in an Aristotelian way, make arbitrary decisions is
> Her role a Final Cause)
> c) she can carefully adjust human behaviour so as to produce the
> consequences set out in the EJ or AER or JAE (take your pick).
>
> If you choose fundamental uncertainty without a God you are asserting the
> existence of uncaused effects; but once you admit God in any role other than
> a first and only cause you abandon science,
>
> JML
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: pkt-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:pkt-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On
>> Behalf Of Harry Veeder
>> <snip>
>>
>> Aristotle distinguished between two kinds of causes. Initial causes
>> and final causes.
>>
>> As this relates to computation, effects stemming from initial
>> causes means
>> the effects are discoverable by a hypothetical time
>> compressed simulation.
>> However, effects stemming from a final cause are not discoverable by a
>> hypothetical time compressed simulation because the cause is
>> inseparable
>> from the passage of actual time. In other words actual time
>> incompressible.
>>
>> If fundamental uncertainty is equivalent to final causes
>> linked to actual
>> time, this is still consistent with a belief in a God who
>> does _not_ play
>> dice with the universe.
>>
>> Harry
>>
>