Free Will
- Date Submitted: 01/28/2010 09:17 AM
- Flesch-Kincaid Score: 36
- Words: 2076
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The debate between free will and determinism stems from the apparent
conflict between the universal rule of causality found in nature and the
apparent ability of men to choose between multiple courses of action in
order to lead to the most desirable outcome. Inorganic matter such as
chairs, stones, and planets, blindly follows whatever forces affects it, and
non-human organisms act for their survival alone, but human beings seem to
be an exception to natures rule by their unique ability to ponder about how
to go about their life and which values to live by. Determinists reject the
idea that any of these choices are freely chosen however, and claim that a
man is no exception to natures law because he and his choices are nothing
more than the product of his environment. Decisions, they usually claim, are
simply a product of conflicting environmental influences duking it out. A
proper understanding of the nature of volition however, can reconcile the
apparent conflict between free will and causality, and soundly reject the
position that man is merely a product of his environment.
Determinists claim that the nature of the universe is such that it is
governed by certain universal scientific laws, so that each action is caused
by a specific prior cause, and human action is no exception. They claim that
the human mind is also governed by these rules so that no alternative course
of action is possible to humans other than the specific and unique set of
prior factors that caused that human action to be made. Thus, human
choices are not free because they are determined ahead of time by
whatever environmental, social, genetic, biological and any other unknown
factors caused such choices to be made. Accordingly, men cannot be held
morally responsible for their actions, since they...
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