...Dying With the Most Toys Does Not Mean You’ve Won In Book 1 of On the Free Choice of the Will, Augustine examines the relationship between doing good and being happy. Happiness is when someone takes delight in their own will, as opposed to depending on temporal things for your happiness, something with which modern psychology agrees. Evil people will to be happy as well, but they refuse to will to live rightly. This leads to evil people depending on temporal things for their happiness, which leads them to be unhappy. Augustine’s first point about happiness is that while everyone wants to be happy, a person is truly happy only “when he takes delight in his own good will” (Augustine, On the Free Choice of the Will, page 24). This person concerns his life with eternal things, and “the joy occasioned by acquiring this good [will] elevates the mind calmly, peacefully, and steadfastly,” which Augustine says is “called the happy life” (25). While the happy person takes delight in his good will, he appropriately assigns “little worth to anything else that is called good but can be lost even when the will to retain it remains” (24). In other words, the happy person does not become attached to the temporal things in life. This is because temporal things are, well, temporary (hence the similarity in the two...
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...Human’s free will is one of the most debatable problems in the field of both philosophy and ethics. Does everybody has a control on his choices and actions or it all was determined in advance. According to the Scottish philosopher David Hume on the problem of free will: “the most contentious question of metaphysics, the most contentious science” [1]. Free will is defined as the ability of humans to make decisions that are not determined by divine intervention or caused by a preceding cause [2]. It is agreed by philosophers who dealt with the problem of free will that a human is not free to make a choice unless he could have done otherwise, in what is known as the principle of alternative possibilities [3]. The free will problem arose in the Greek mythology in many instances such as the tragedy of Oedipus in its different versions as Oedipus Rex by Sophocles....
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...Free will is not an illusion. Critically discuss. This essay defends the claim that free will is not an illusion. The first supportive argument for this claim by Aristotle is that we are all responsible for our actions (Aristotle & Taylor, C.C.W. 2006) and also we also responsible to the formation of our character. The second argument to support that free will is not an illusion, whether we like it or not we are free as stated by Sartre arguing that we are condemned to be free (Bernasconi 2007). Together with this view Augustine argue that there is a higher power but we are still free to make choices, those who are predestined to the heaven and those who are not. However this does mean we have free will but it’s a matter of clarification of how this relates to our free will. If determinism were to be right and that some of our decisions are predetermined it is true to say that our decisions are also based upon fate. In a certain aspect, by the person that we are, our gender, race, and religion and status and past experiences, we have been explained that these things do affect our decisions, and that we always have a minimum of two choices for everything we need to do. If someone at any point of time, anywhere was to make a choice that is truly free and voluntary then it can be proved that we have free will. Libertarianism argues that free will is an action involving true devised commands where human beings are free in their action as they are able reason without any physical...
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...Jonathan Santos Professor Zalkaske PHIL 1301 28 October 2015 Freedom of the Will Humans are considered rational beings, but it has always been asked what can human beings do and to what extent do their abilities reach This question focuses on free will and determinism. An easy way to show free will and determinism is to think of paths that are forked and with each decision there are alternate routes you could have taken from the one you did and that with those alternate routes there are alternate futures. So for example you have a choice of going to the park or the mall by choosing the park your decision would put a fork in your road and the other choice the mall would be another fork in the road, but it would become an alternate future. Firstly,...
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...Are Choices an Illusion? Section 1 Do I believe that the choices we make are just mere illusions? That we do not really have our own free will in making decisions? Yes, I believe this to be true. Section 2 However, some believe that we do have free will. Roy F. Baumeister, a social psychologist states that we do have free will, and he says: If culture is so successful, why don’t other species use it? They can’t—because they lack the psychological innate capabilities it requires. Our ancestors evolved the ability to act in the ways necessary for culture to succeed. Free will likely will be found right there—it’s what enables humans to control their actions in precisely the ways required to build and operate complex social systems. (Baumeister). What Baumeister is saying is that based on how our ancestor has developed a sense of communication is an act of free will. They have free will because they chose how they want to develop and how it will help them evolve. Baumesiter also states how our self-control "counts as a kind of freedom because it beings with not acting on every impulse," meaning that because of our free will, we don't always act straight away when we see something. We think about it first before we trigger a response. Such as thinking about what we say before we say it, we just don't say the first thing that comes to our mind without thinking about it. Steve Zara, a writer in the Richard Dawkins discussion section of the websites states that ...
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...Fate or Free Will? Unit 4 Individual Project Grislen Dominguez Professor Stephen Ripley Introduction to Philosophy – PHIL201 March 10, 2013 Scientists, philosophers, and sociologists struggle to find the answers to the following questions, what is freedom? How free is the individual within a society? How much of human behavior is determined by environment and genetics? (M.U.S.E, 2010). In my perspective, freedom is the ability for a human being to act as desired, in other words having self-determination and no restrains. In society, individual’s rights are protected by the first amendment of the constitution, which gives freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly, and so on. However, there are laws that humans must abide by to prevent consequences. Human behavior has been influenced by the environment and genetics to a certain degree, however, every individual is a unique mind or as I call “a different world”, it all depends on an individual perspectives and reactions to certain circumstances. Socrates: What is the definition of determinism? Grislen: Determinism consist that every event has a cause; therefore if human actions are to be considered events, then, all choices made are determined by cause and not free will. Nothing in life is predetermined, the choices we make in life is the only one that can alter our future. Socrates: What is the definition of free will? Grislen: The philosophical term of “free will” consists...
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...2013 Free Will Stance: I believe in the idea of Free Will. Reason: The reason I believe in Free Will is because I believe that everyone has the choice in which decisions they make in life. You should believe in free will because it is what gives you the ability to make your own decisions, gives you control of your life, and gives you a sense of freedom of speech. Thesis: Free will is the idea that everyone has the choice to make their own decisions; some of the theories free will our shown through Harry Frankfurt’s organization theory, Fischer’s factors of control and Hume’s study on desires. 1. Free will based on organization A. Frankfurt on first desires B. Frankfurt says in first desires when he is undergoing a first desire that he has the ability to either eat the candy bar or refrain from eating this. This shows free will because he has the choice to refrain or go along with his desires. C. I agree with Frankfurt’s ideas and beliefs because if we desire to do or eat something then we have the choice in which we can restrain ourselves from doing it due to negative outcomes or you can accept the desire and go forward with the decision. 2. Free will based on Control A. John Martin Fischer free will through guidance and regulative control. B. Guidance Control, people show guidance control by looking over their actions and coming up with the most appropriate outcome. I feel as if people have the choice in which actions they look...
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...what happens in our lives. Free will, however, is also supposed to be our right. We should be able to choose what will happen if we make certain choices. So how is Gods omniscience compatible with the existence of free will? God has the foreknowledge to know what is going to happen to each and every one of us. He knows the events that will occur around the world that will affect our lives. This knowledge however does not constitute that we don’t have free will. If you look at individuals, we can make the choice to do one thing or another. Just because a greater power knows what the choice will be, doesn’t mean we cannot choose what we are going to do. Our daily choices can be chosen by us, but are known already by God. He knows that we will choose for example to call in sick to work, that doesn’t mean that we couldn’t have went to work, that choice was determined by us. We could have changed that, but God just knew that was going to be the outcome. If God has foreknowledge of the outcome of all events, then how could we possibly have free will. It seems that if determinism is a proven fact, then we can make any choice, but the outcomes are always predetermined by past events that are out of our control, so free will really doesn’t exist, people just think it does. People think that they are making the choices but in actuality they are not making any decisions at all because events that preceded those decisions have already determined the choice. I think that the affirmative...
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...emotional implications or responsibilities in which choice is connected. One of the emotional links is that of anguish. Satre states that anguish is an individual’s response to freedom …“we are responsible as we are free” .. (Flynn 2006 pg8) that individuals have to take sole responsibility for actions taken resulting in the feeling of anguish. Discussion As starte stated existence precedes essence, we are all a Tabula Rasa(blank slate) that we are all free in which to make the choices and decisions that shapes who we are. Anguish is almost an emotional response to the freedom that we have, that we are all free to choose own paths in life, we should be responsible for all of our actions, choices and decisions that we make. When choosing that decision we are choosing that decision for all. ..”When choosing for himself he chooses for all mankind..” (Cohen- solal 1996 pg, 67) Satre utilised Kierkegaards example of Abraham sacrificing his son as a result of a divine command in which to explain anguish more clearly. Stare sates that is it Abraham’s choice in which to interpret the command as divine or god like. To satre the freedom is the value of all values that we can experience aguish as a result of the responsibility of being truly free, however satre suggested that we are also condemned to be free, resulting in anguish felt at making the right choices. Evaluation It could be suggested that Satres strong views that we are all free could be reflective of a post war 1945 Germany...
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...When one is defining free will its said to be the power to act one’s own discretion. A common argument known as determinism asks how can we make our own choices if all actions are already determined by the events of the past working with laws of nature resulting in a set future. On the other hand compatabilism views that the two in fact can coexist. Compatabibilism brings the two ideas together resulting in the choices we face now are a result of the choices we faced in the past all leading to one outcome in the future. Meaning that our choices represent our free will and the repercussion of those choices is what leads up to the determined future ahead of us. Compatabilist believe that a person is free to perform an action to the extent there...
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...agrees that an essential property of God must be that he must be perfectly free or at least have some type of freedom. Morris and Swinburne contend that where humans have free will, which might be just a marginal amount of freedom, God has the maximum amount possible of freedom that is logically possible limited by the other characteristics of God. However, it seems when closely examined, many of God’s essential characteristics strip him of any kind of freedom believers might attribute to him. Defining God’s freedom seems to be a very abstract and difficult task. As humans, we feel as though we have free will. There are many different ways to define human free will, but a common characteristic is the ability to have done otherwise in a situation. Meaning, if I were placed in the same exact situation where I had to make a decision multiple times, I could make a different decision each time. However, it seems that given the same exact circumstances, I would have no reason to make a different decision; I would always make the same choice, unless there was an element of randomness introduced. This doesn’t seem like a good way to define free will; God’s intentions never should seem random. A different interpretation would have free will as simply the ability to decide and act given different choices. In this interpretation, I would always make the same decision given the same circumstances. This type of free will seems to hold more merit in terms of human affairs. We can easily see...
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...FREE WILL OR DETERMINISM 1 Free Will or Determinism Ashley Magee American InterContinental University FREE WILL OR DETERMINISM 2 Abstract This essay will discuss free will versus determinism. This will be a dialogue between an imaginary Socrates and me. A series of questions will be discussed to describe determinism and free will. FREE WILL OR DETERMINISM 3 Socrates: What is your definition of determinism? Ashley: Determinism is the thought that each event is caused by something. Since human actions could be looked at as an event then each choice is because of a cause. Socrates: So, if every event is based on a cause then we do not have free will. Ashley: I don’t believe human action is an event, I feel like we all make our own decisions and our fate is determined by our decisions. Socrates: What is your definition of free will? Ashley: Free will is to act without the confinement of fate. This is acting at one’s own concern. Socrates: Is it not true that we all have our own fate? Ashley: I believe that our fate lies in our own hands. It is up to us to decide how we live our lives. Socrates: Do you feel that every event has an explanatory cause? Ashley: I do not feel that way. Some things just can’t be explained and we will never know why some things happen. Socrates: Is it not true that everything happens for a reason? Ashley: I think that everything happens because of the decision that we made. Whether good or bad things happen...
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...the group that kidnapped her surfaced showing them committing two armed robberies (FBI). A terrorist group kidnapped and ransomed her earlier that year; though, no one could find Hearst until months after the videos surfaced (FBI). After being found, Authorities put Hearst on trial for the crimes she had committed while kidnapped. Hearst’s case brought up many questions on how to proceed, to prosecute or not, as the defenses case rested on her not having free will during her time with the terrorist group. Hearst’s defense argued the group had brainwashed her and she could not be punished for her actions. The prosecution said she had willingly joined the group and chosen to not just stay a hostage. Did Hearst act out of free will or was she forced? Disregarding the unknown details of the case, one can look at Hearst’s situation through different philosophical theories on free will, including Determinism,...
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...Free Will and Determinism One issue with human kind as a whole that has been continuing since the beginning of time is the question of free will. Do human beings really have free will, or is our destiny predetermined by fate? To fully take a side, one has to look at and understand both sides of the argument. Firstly there is the concept of Determinism, which is basically that all events are caused by prior events, and that given the causes of a human’s choices or actions, there is no way that that human could have acted otherwise. Obviously, this is incompatible with the concept of free will, because free will suggests that humans do have a choice. Although there are two different sides to the argument of free will, there is compatibilist and libertarianism free will. Compatibilist free will suggests that free will and determinism are compatible. That it is possible for a person to act freely if the action is not caused by an external factor but rather by an internal factor, caused by processes in the brain. Libertarian free will denies that determinism and compatibilism are true and that free will exists. Libertarians define an action as free if the person doing it could have done otherwise, or that is was possible to act differently. I believe that humans do have free will to the extent of their own power, making me a compatibilist. A person cannot stop a car accident from happening and making them late to work, but they can choose to turn around and take a different route...
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...Free Will The problem with free will is that if karma really exists then the subject of free will is in question. Free will is having the ability to make all decisions in your life and that you choose what to do. There are many different opinions about if free will is a real thing or is everything in your life predetermined by past events. Examples of these are determinism, libertarianism, and fatalism. Determinism as a whole is defined as believing that things that happen to you is directly affected by what happened to you in the past. There are different types of determinism and it can be split into two types; hard and soft. Hard determinism states that free will does not exist and that everything that happens in your life is predetermined by events in your past. Soft determinism says that you can both have free will about some things and that some things are predetermined. This is also known as compatibilism. An example of this is if you are walking down the street and someone points a gun at your head and says to give him your money. In this case, you do not seem to have a choice whether or not to give him the money. In the same scenario with a homeless man, you choose to give him the money because you want to help him. In both cases, you gave someone else the money but in the first, it was determined for you that you would have to give up the money to live while in the second case you choose to give up the money freely. If you have complete control over the situation...
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