Free response

Predestination and the Social Contract: A Monstrous Combination Eighteenth century French theologian Cornelius Jansen was famous for his principle of predestination: humans are either fated to suffer, or they are not. In other words, he believed that no number of good acts can save one who is predestined to suffer. Another hotly debated philosophy of the time period was that of nature versus nurture. If one’s personality is determined entirely by his nature, then no amount of social influence should

Some people believe we have the ability to determine our own destinies, while others believe that our destiny has already been decided for us. The author’s Jon Krakauer and David Epstein, show both sides of this argument in their writing. Jon Krakauer shows throughout Into the Wild that no matter what a person does there will always be events that occur in life that we have no control over. The Sports Gene, follows the idea that our destiny is either predetermined, but a person can also work hard

The gods influenced his decision to give it back. I think this makes the gods always in control of your fate; but the way you come to that decision or the path you take is free will. Although, the gods are always putting ideas and thoughts in your head to make certain decisions. In the end, you determine what you want to do. When Priam, Hectors father went to get Hector's body from Achilles. He said, "Achilles! Be reverent

Pythagoras of Samos, a Greek philosopher, author, and mathematician, once said, “No one is free who has not obtained the empire of himself. No man is free who cannot command himself” (Riedweg, n.pag). When Pythagoras says that no person is ‘free who has not obtained the empire of himself,’ he means that no one is free from his unconscious until he uncovers it and accepts himself. By uncovering one’s unconscious, he can freely make good decisions and be responsible for himself. When uncovering his

You may think you control your life and have complete control over the decisions you make, but that is not necessarily true. Thoughts control the actions and behavior of people, but the environment and people in the environment affect a person’s thought inadvertently. How strong those influences are on the thought process varies. While people and the environment were not the sole reason Willy had committed suicide, it was a combination of the environment and his own dilemmas. In Death of a Salesman

Free Will is a Caged Bird in the Presence of Fate: Not to be Trifled With. Themes are the overall interpretation of a literary work, and symbols are significant information used to support and amplify the theme. If one looks at the relationship between symbols and themes in Sophocles’ “Oedipus Rex” and Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles”, one can see how both authors distinctively use symbols to support and amplify the theme. In the play “Oedipus Rex”, Oedipus swollen foot is used as a symbol to illustrate

Fate vs. Free will in Julius Caesar The conflict over fate versus free will is a big conversation that can be argued both ways. Do we let our fate lead the path in our life, or do we take matters into our own hands and find a way to avoid it? If we do avoid our fate, what are the consequences and how do we handle them? The role that consequences play is that people will fully commit to his/her fate in order to avoid the consequences. But giving into fate all together is dangerous also, because one

Fate has a role in many of great stories even if it occurs just a tiny bit that can change the whole outcome of the story. The role of fate happens a lot in the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. From the start of the play in the Prolog the chorus states that there stars were crossed. That means that no matter what they do they cannot be together, and to make matters worse Romeo a Montague, and Juliet a Capulet. Those to family’s have an age old feud has coasted the lives of many people

Is prophecies self-fulfilling destiny? Several of literatures have shown prophecies play an important role on shaping the fate. Oedipus the King by Sophocles and Macbeth by William Shakespeare are both known for tragic play; they both share a parallel phenomenon, of fate and prophecy. However, two protagonists desire of prophecies is completely opposite, one destroy his own life trying to avoid while another destroy his life by trying to fulfill the destiny. Sophocles portrays Oedipus whose life

determinism “The Yellow Wall-Paper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman negotiates, one must first define what hard and soft determinism are. Hard determinism is the theory that behavior and actions are controlled by outside factors, so humans do not have free will. While soft determinism is the theory that humans regulate their own actions. “The Yellow Wall-Paper” has both soft and hard determinism, with hard determinism dominating the narrative. The soft determinism is mostly displayed by the husband of