Whether or not we have free will has serious implications about morality, the punishment of criminals, the concepts of heaven and hell, and other related topics. The theory of universal determinism poses a challenge to free will, suggesting that all actions could be predicted. There are three positions on universal determinism: compatibilism and the two main versions of incompatibilism, hard determinism and libertarianism. In this paper, I will discuss these three positions, offering justifications and critiques of each to conclude that universal determinism is not as strong of an argument as it may seem at first glance, we can be certain we have freedom of action at the very least in situations that require us to deliberate before making a decision, and that it is in our best interest to believe we have free will.
With modern physics came the thesis of universal determinism. When …show more content…
The two main forms of incompatibilism are hard determinism and libertarianism. Hard determinism, as the name implies, is the position that universal determinism is certain and that free will does not exist, that “freedom of action is an illusion” (Green 134). Despite universal determinism being well-established by empirical evidence, quantum mechanics does not entirely support it. A uranium atom like U238 “is liable to lose an electron at some point in its existence,” but even our best theories about when that electron could be lost can only tell us the “likelihood of [the atom] decaying within a certain interval of time” (Green 126). This shows that the at least some things, like the decay of a uranium atom at a specific moment, do not have a physical cause. While quantum mechanics might not have an impact on your actions, this opens the possibility of chance or some other non-physical factor to affect your freedom of
With modern physics came the thesis of universal determinism. When …show more content…
The two main forms of incompatibilism are hard determinism and libertarianism. Hard determinism, as the name implies, is the position that universal determinism is certain and that free will does not exist, that “freedom of action is an illusion” (Green 134). Despite universal determinism being well-established by empirical evidence, quantum mechanics does not entirely support it. A uranium atom like U238 “is liable to lose an electron at some point in its existence,” but even our best theories about when that electron could be lost can only tell us the “likelihood of [the atom] decaying within a certain interval of time” (Green 126). This shows that the at least some things, like the decay of a uranium atom at a specific moment, do not have a physical cause. While quantum mechanics might not have an impact on your actions, this opens the possibility of chance or some other non-physical factor to affect your freedom of