What If Determinism Is True?

What is determinism? Determinism says that if a person does something; it was sure that the person would do that thing provided the initial conditions of the universe and the cosmological constants which govern how the universe works determined that the person would do that thing. To understand it better, let's consider an example. [Also: Wikipedia: Determinism.]

Consider a situation in which a person killed someone. Now, if determinism is true, then the initial conditions of the universe, the person's upbringing, his genetic code, his surroundings and all these factors determined that he would kill the other person and so he was not morally responsible for his kill. And if determinism is true, it is possible that "free will" as you knew it, is a fantasy! People who believe that determinism is true are called incompatibilists. 

Even though determinism stays highly controversial (between us only, I am an incompatibilist, Sanskruti is not)-- whether it's true or not, still; if you think about it, if it is, it is a major concern. Because if determinism is not true, then there might not be a problem; people who are committing murders, people who are terrorists, and everyone who has done anything bad-- are responsible for their actions and they are being punished by the law for their crimes. Well, great!

But what if the world we live in is a deterministic world...

Imagine...everyone who ever committed a crime was not morally responsible for his/her actions. 9/11, Al-Qaeda, Mumbai attacks-- no terrorist was ever responsible for having done those attacks! The people you saw that day beat-up that innocent kid were not responsible for their situations ensured that they would beat-up that kid.


Well, we've come up with a theory which just might make the world a great place to live-in even if determinism is true! And it's quite simple, really. Consider that a person (let's say, A) killed another person (let's say, B), after a few days, she got caught by the police and was imprisoned for life for she was found guilty in the court. Now, since we are assuming that determinism is true, person A was not responsible for her actions for her genetic code, her upbringing ensured that she would kill person B. But even the forensics team, the jury and judge were not morally responsible for sending person A (not responsible for her actions) to jail for even their upbringing and their situation ensured that they would send her to jail. And so, no one is responsible for his/her actions and our world is working perfectly the way it is.

Simple, really. Now we want to know from you; what do you think?