Free will. A concept about the ability to make choices for oneself. If a person has free will, then one could have done the other option. This notion has philosophers arguing about the existence of free will. There are philosophers like Machan who believes a person are able to cause their actions, while others believe it is determine by something else. A philosopher named Blatchford is part of the hard determinism family where he denies the existence of free will because of two things— heredity and environment.
From Blatchford standpoint, he believes that heredity and environment controls a person’s decisions and morals. Early in the passage, he gives a reason against the free will party. Their definition of free will is that “the man is responsible for his acts, because his will is free to choose from right and wrong (Burr, pg. 40). Blatchford counteracts this reason with a free man not knowing right from wrong until they were taught. This seems understandable because a person can morally choose to act a certain way based on what they learn what is good or bad. For example, a toddler decides to reach for the outlet not knowing that it is …show more content…
44). He further explains this example of two guys drinking at a bar. Jonah is the person that offers drinks to his friend, Robinson. Robinson refuses to take a second drink because he knows it is dangerous to get drunk from what he learned in his environment. However, he does take offer of a cigarette because he doesn’t sense any danger. In a different scenario, two different people at the bar was drinking. A person named William constantly drinking one cup right after the other. This is because he created a bad habit of getting drunk which makes it hard to break. In the case of these two scenarios, Robinson desire to be safe and William desire to drink. (Burr, pg.
From Blatchford standpoint, he believes that heredity and environment controls a person’s decisions and morals. Early in the passage, he gives a reason against the free will party. Their definition of free will is that “the man is responsible for his acts, because his will is free to choose from right and wrong (Burr, pg. 40). Blatchford counteracts this reason with a free man not knowing right from wrong until they were taught. This seems understandable because a person can morally choose to act a certain way based on what they learn what is good or bad. For example, a toddler decides to reach for the outlet not knowing that it is …show more content…
44). He further explains this example of two guys drinking at a bar. Jonah is the person that offers drinks to his friend, Robinson. Robinson refuses to take a second drink because he knows it is dangerous to get drunk from what he learned in his environment. However, he does take offer of a cigarette because he doesn’t sense any danger. In a different scenario, two different people at the bar was drinking. A person named William constantly drinking one cup right after the other. This is because he created a bad habit of getting drunk which makes it hard to break. In the case of these two scenarios, Robinson desire to be safe and William desire to drink. (Burr, pg.