Dilemma Of Determinism Essay

The Dilemma of Determinism Determinism put simply, is the idea that past events, in combination with the laws of nature, determine future events. What this means for people, is that they are not free to make their own choices and therefore, cannot be held morally responsible for their actions. Under the idea of determinism, the way the world was ten million years ago, or even the way the world was yesterday, affects the way the world is today. Every event is completely causally determined. For example, if determinism is true, the fact that we are sitting in a library working on our group project is no choice of ours, but was a determined event from the beginning. Therefore, based on this example and the endless other events that could be …show more content…
This makes premise two true because if determinism is true, the world (and everyone’s actions) are determined as a result of previous events. That means that individuals are not free to make their own decisions, but rather have pre-determined futures that they themselves cannot control. For example, it appears that this morning we had a choice to come to the library and do our paper, or sleep. It appears that we chose the paper. If determinism is true however, our choice to do the paper or sleep was never actually a choice. Rather, us doing the paper was determined by the events previous. Without control, or the ability to choose one’s actions, the person doesn’t have free will and can therefore not be morally responsible for their actions. While it often appears that individuals have choices, determinism means they actually have no choice in the actions they participate