Determinism Vs Free Will In Communication

Com 295 – 07 In communication there are two different ways on how you can look at communication theory; one way is free will scope, the other a determinism scope. These two ways of evaluating communication theory can affect many different aspects throughout communication. Free will means that humans acts are voluntary. It also says that we are free agents who can decide to respond differently under identical sets of circumstances. This means that we as humans have freedom to respond to our circumstances and that reaction may be different then another person who faced the exact same circumstances. With free will each person has control over their own actions and their actions are voluntary.
Determinism means that behavior is caused by heredity …show more content…
Free will, is the ability to choose how a person reacts which affects the outcome of the situation and affects the pathway they take in their life. While determinism says that no matter what happens your pathway in life is already predetermined. This means that these two cannot coexist together, because free will says that you can control the fate of your life, and on the other hand, determinism says that your fate is already predetermined and you as a person do not have control over what happens. It would not be possible for these two to be hybrid together. They contradict each other in how life plays out and whether you have control of your decisions and actions; or if your life events and decisions are already predetermined for you by your environment and genetics. Since these two are mutually exclusive depending on what scope you look through, it can have an effect on how you communicate with other …show more content…
With free will it holds the people communicating responsible for what they say and do because it was their own choice to act out those actions or say what they did. While with determinism your words and actions are already predetermined based on heredity and environment. Thus, affecting communication because in that theory people cannot be held responsible for their words and actions because they did not choose them, they were already predetermined for them. These are important in communication theory because the different theory you believe in would have a different effect on how you hold other people responsible while communicating with them. These are important to understand, especially in interpersonal relationships. If your partner looks at communication through the free will scope and you look at it through the determinism scope there can be conflict within the relationship; because they could hold you responsible for things that you believe you have no control over. With determinism and free will I think they are both important to communication theory and can be a vital thing that shapes how you look at communication. The scope you look through can influence your communication