Free Will Vs. Determinism

In the Philosophy, Determinism has many different categories. Actually according to the textbook, the Determinism is the view that every event, including human actions, are brought about by previous events in accordance with the natural laws that govern the world. Human freedom is an illusion. Jewish philosopher Baruch Spinoza does not deny that people’s wishes and desires will lead to the soul, and he said, "but neglected one important

Determinism is a doctrine suggesting that for every event there exist conditions that could cause no alternative event. Free will is a philosophical term describing a particular sort of capacity of rational agents to choose a course of action from among various alternatives. Understandably, the dichotomy between these two concepts is a topic philosophers have debated over for many years. As a result of these debates, a number of alternative philosophical perspectives arguing for the existence of free will, namely libertarianism and compatibilism, have emerged, existing in stark contrast to determinism. In order to ascertain the extent to which free will is compatible with determinism, one must first consider these different approaches to

Determinism undermines two aspects of free will: (1) decisions are “up to you” and (2) the origins of your actions are outside of our control, by either God, decrees of fate, etcetera. These are two important aspects, but because determinism describes what would happen if the universe ran on determinism, not necessarily that

Determinism is the idea that everything we do as humans is determined by events prior to us being born and events that have happened in the past. Decisions that you may think are based on your desires, are actually based of things beyond your control. But the big question is, if determinism is

There are those who think that our behavior is a result of free choice, but there are also others who believe we are servants of cosmic destiny, and that behavior is nothing but a reflex of heredity and environment. The position of determinism is that every event is the necessary outcome of a cause or set of causes, and everything is a consequence of external forces, and such forces produce all that happens. Therefore, according to this statement, man is not free.

Determinism is based off this notion that all events are pre-determined, without influence by human actions. If this is true, we can imply that people do not have free will and thus are not responsible for their actions. In Oedipus the King we see that the dichotomy of fate and free will is hazed by the hyperbole of events, which can make it difficult, but possible, to determine if humans even have free will. Through Oedipus’s flaws and decisions and Sophocles use of the imagery of a crossroad it is apparent that free will can be exercised in a meaningful way.

Determinism (as defined by Webster) is “A doctrine that acts of the will, natural events, or social changes are determined by preceding events or natural causes”. Likely, the most radical definition of determinism would state that all events in the world are the result of a previous event, or a combination of previous events. Within the realm of the all encompassing radical determinism there are philosophies that are somewhat better thought out or backed by science. One example of this is Genetic Determinism. We know that people are in some way determined by their genes both physically and behaviorally, as the human DNA is applied. Two categories of genetic determinism are Genetic Fixity and Innate Capacity.

The discussion of free will and its compatibility with determinism comes down to one’s conception of actions. Most philosophers and physicists would agree that events have specific causes, especially events in nature. The question becomes more controversial when philosophers discuss the interaction between human beings, or agents, and the world. If one holds the belief that all actions and events are caused by prior events, it would seem as though he would be accepting determinism. For if an event has a particular cause, the event which follows must be predetermined, even if this cause relates to a decision by a human being. Agent causation becomes important for many philosophers who, like me, refuse to

The question of our freedom is one that many people take for granted. However, if we consider it more closely it can be questioned. The thesis of determinism is the view that every event or happening has a cause, and that causes guarantee their effects. Therefore given a cause, the event must occur and couldn’t occur in any other way than it did. Whereas, the thesis of freewill is the view that as human beings, regardless of a cause, we could have acted or willed to act differently than we did. Determinism therefore, states that the future is something that is fixed and events can only occur in one way, while freewill leaves the future open. Obviously a huge problem arises between these two theses. They cannot both be true

Now, the argument for freewill states that nothing is determined and everything happens based off our own random actions and nothing is linked. Determinism takes a different route and believes every action is pre-determined and nothing is random because it has already been put in place to happen.

Free will represents an impact between two opposite perspectives. From a metaphysics perspective we wonder If we don't have free will then why are we here? What is the point of life if we cannot choose our course of actions. But from a scientific perspective we have questions like is it possible that anything can happen without having it be caused by something else? Some things really can't be described within the science that we all rely on. It makes people have free choices that forms who they are, and are responsible for their consequences. "Majority of philosophers suppose that the concept of free will is very closely connected to the concept of moral responsibility"(Connor 2002). I believe that free will is similar to moral responsibility

Critics ask, “How can it be that we have free will and determinism?” More specifically, the contradiction between determinism and free will arises from the idea that determinism must impose constraints upon our ability to have free will. Recall that absence of constraint is one of the compatibilists’ criteria for having free will. Critics argue that determinism undermines this criteria, thus the free will cannot be compatible with

Chapter 3 refers to “Free Will” as having the power to make choices and engage in actions that originate with ourselves. Free will means that each individual has the freedom to make moral choices, engage in moral behavior, display moral actions, and act ethically. Determinism states that every event has a cause. Unlike free will, determinism suggest that every action, thought, and feeling is caused by an event. Basically, nothing happened that is not caused to happen. Interdeterminism suggest that internal factors both biological and psychological influence choice making and behavior.

Free will gives us power to make choices, and engage in actions that originate with ourselves. It also relates to intentionality,Valuntariness, and responsibility. Free will is a natural and social science that continues to catalogue the various biological, psychological, and sociological in influences on our choices and actions, we are left to critically examine the degree to which our thoughts, feelings, and actions are in fact, free or voluntary. Free will is compatible with determinism as in the sovereignty of god.Free will affected by human nature, however retains the ability to choose contrary his nature and desires. In free will always believe only on what is true, and not in false propositions, don't believe on determinism unless it

     Before one can properly evaluate the entire debate that enshrouds the Free Will/Determinism, each term must have a meaning, but before we explore the meaning of each term, we must give a general definition. Determinism is, "Everything that happens is caused to happen. (Clifford Williams. "Free Will and Determinism: A Dialogue" pg 3). This is the position that Daniel, a character in Williams’ dialogue, chooses to believe and defend. David Hume goes a little deeper and explains in his essay, "An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding of Liberty and Necessity," that determinism is this: "It is universally allowed, that matter, in all its operations, is actuated by a necessary force, and