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Philosophy of Freedom

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The Philosophy of Freedom
Determinism is a theory that alleges that there are forces, either natural or universal that causes an event to happen (Lucas, p. 2). Lucas adds that the determinism concept asserts that humans live in a prearranged universe, and any change occurs with law-like promptness (2). This theory is a spiritual perception regarding the nature of the world and things. Some theorists argue that determinism suggests that, in principle, everything in the future is predictable and that past happenings, in principle, are explicable. Compatibilists, also known as soft determinists describe freedom as a free act that involves no compellation, coercion, restriction or force. Also, determinists define freedom as an act performed on the basis or from an individual’s personal conscious and rational desires and wanted.
The determinism assumption presents a complex issue for the free will concept. Some arising questions include how one can make free choices if the laws of nature and the facts of the past determine their actions. Also, how can one be accountable for their performances if they possess no free will? Nonetheless, these reasonable questions are not enough to suggest the falsehood of determinism; instead, they perform as an active stimulator towards providing resolutions to the perceptible conflict between free will and determinism. Lucas indicates how various philosophers including Daniel Dennett argue the subsistence of moral responsibility includes the existence of freedom (3). Iredale adds that most individuals who are not scientists or philosophers appear to have an instinctive feeling that they have free will. Hence, when subjected to this predicament, these people prefer choosing free will over determinism (13). Clarke & Capes define free will as having what it

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