Theory Of Determinism

(a) The philosophical concept of determinism is defined as “the view that all events, including mental events, are governed by causal laws” (Davis, 2004). Proponents of this theory believe that all events, human actions and thoughts are predetermined and predictable; even the “individuality” of being human and choosing your path in life. For example, if a criminal uses the reasoning of a bad childhood for why they committed a crime, they are really saying that their behavior was determined.
Free will is the freedom of choice or self-determination that human beings possess; those who believe in free will believe that, given any situation, a person could have done other than what he did. Philosophers have argued that free will is incompatible with …show more content…
You can make the choice (free will) to walk your dog without having the freedom of action to do so. You are free to walk your dog so long as nothing prevents you from carrying out that decision and you are free to not walk your dog as long as nothing would keep you from deciding not to.
If a hurricane came through your neighborhood and caused your yard to flood and it is impossible to get outside, you can’t walk your dog even if you want to; you have free will (choosing to walk the dog) but no free action, because you are not able to walk the dog.
(c) Determinism versus fatalism: Determinism is related to fatalism, since determinists believe that all events, including human actions, are caused by something else. Fatalism is the belief that “what will be will be,” since all past, present, and future events have already been predetermined by God or another all-powerful force, such as “fate.”
Fate is an unpredictable force that supposedly causes things to happen “coincidentally,” without any control or direction by God. In a world ruled by chance, God can foresee what will happen, but that is all. Everything depends on mere luck “it just