Free Will Determinism
Essay title: Free Will Determinism
Every day in our lives and everything we do involves some degree of decision making or choice selection either mental or physical. We start making choices and decisions from the moment we wake up everyday to the second we sleep. Some decisions we make are blatantly obvious to ourselves because of our need to reflect on the choices before choosing. However, most decisions we make throughout the day are made without much thought. We are even, quite often, unaware that we are making decisions due to habituation and preference. Before going further, we must define the terms free will, determinism and fate or destiny. Free will is the ability to choose. Furthermore, it is the power of making free choices that are unconstrained by external circumstances or by an agency such as fate. Fate, or destiny, can be defined as the inevitable events predestined by this force. However, there is a better position to take when it comes to arguing against free will; and that position, or belief, is called determinism. Determinism states that the conditions at one moment are the necessary result from the “previous” conditions. Simply put, every effect has a cause, every action is predetermined. Unlike fate or destiny, it does not mean the future is already established. It is one thing to say that our choice is caused. It is another thing to say that we do not choose, and fate says, we cannot choose. This is definitely an endless argument given that it is a matter of personal opinion with no facts involved. However, free will definitely seems like the most plausible standpoint. We do have free will.
First of all, we can all experience something within ourselves that we can conclude to be a decision making process. These decisions we make are obviously made from our own will and not determined by anything other than ourselves. Baron Holbach, an 18th century French philosopher, believes that free will is an illusion. According to Holbach, we have no choice in anything because everything is predetermined. Holbach also states that our decision making boils down to preference. For example, if Bob walked into an ice cream store filled with numerous flavors, it would seem that Bob is free to choose any flavor he wants. Holbach would have to argue that Bob has already made a decision in his mind before walking in due to vanilla being his favorite flavor, his preference. However, there is no relation between the fact that he chose vanilla and his choice being predetermined. As stated earlier, it is one thing to say Bobs choice is caused and another to say that he didnt have a choice. Bobs preference caused him to choose vanilla. According to fate, Bob didnt have a choice. He was destined to pick vanilla. That conclusion doesnt seem logical. Its obvious that he could have chosen otherwise considering that he wasnt restrained in any way. Lets imagine if Bobs best friend, John, was in the ice cream shop with him. John says, “I bet you are going to pick vanilla”, knowing that Bobs favorite flavor was vanilla. He might very well say that the outcome was determined. On the other hand, if Bob knew that John knows his favorite flavor, he could simply choose otherwise to disprove John. This shows that there is no way that Bob picking vanilla was not his choice and was determined before he even “chose”.
Perhaps a more substantial argument would simply state that there is no logical basis on which to deny free will. Even if free will did not exist and we were all helplessly condemned to our particular “fate”, it seems rather unproductive or even pessimistic to think about it this way. One could just sit around all day and, in a sense, let “fate” happen. Everything and anything including life itself would lose meaning. Thered be no
motivation for people to do anything if they knew they cant change their future. With our lives being determined, there would no accountability or responsibility. We cannot be held responsible or accountable if we had no choice to do otherwise. Without free will, morality and ethics are meaningless. We would also have to throw away the “best” things about people, such as generosity or bravery, just two among countless traits. If we had no free will, one would not be considered generous for giving their kidney away. One would not be considered brave for taking a bullet for someone. They were “destined” to lose their kidney and their life, respectively. If everything was determined, then Adolph Hitler could be blamed no more for his evil actions than Mother Teresa can be praised for good ones.
Creativity seems to be another possible foundation for free will. For example, if Bob was presented with sushi and pizza, then was asked to pick one to eat, it would seem that he is predetermined to eat either the sushi or the pizza. However, Bob can create