Pragmatism Vs Free Will Research

Improved Essays
Human behaviour is the result of free-will. Free-will is the logic that every person chooses how they act and are free to choose their own behaviour. In simple terms, human behavior is self-determined. Human behaviour is a result of free-will because we as individuals make our own choices in life, choose the paths we take, and have to accept the consequences as they come. This is known as personal agency, the ability to exercise your free will. As Maslow and Rogers expressed, freedom is not only possible but necessary in order to become a fully functional human being. Free will rejects the idea that behaviour is a passive reaction to influencing forces. Dismissing the idea that human behaviour is a result of environmental, genetics, or biological …show more content…
Pragmatists believe that our beliefs about reality are only purposeful to the extent that they have important consequences. Pragmatism argues that reality is pluralistic rather than a single thing material or immaterial; this could explain the reasoning as to why most human behaviour is a result of determinism. Both exists because reality is pluralistic, human beings choose to follow determinism because it is human instinct to choose the easier option. Pragmatist dismisses any idea that limits what the human mind can do, in that case, environmental, genetics, or biological circumstance have no effect on human behaviour. Pragmatists suggests, that the future is limited by human desire, and desire is limited by the human ability to discard inherited beliefs. Similarly, the concept of free will suggest that human behaviour is limited by circumstance, and circumstance emerges from the disability to discard inherited beliefs or …show more content…
Everyone has the potential to take control of their lives and allow free will to guide them rather than circumstance. It all comes back to the question, if we are willing to let go and allow ourselves to exercise the free will we already have. The same free will we used to make the decision to allow ourselves to be impacted by environmental or genetic causes. Human behaviour is a result of free-will because we as individuals make our own choices in life, choose the paths we take, and have to accept the consequences as they

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    Determinism is a philosophical idea that attempts to place all events that occur as inevitable as they are predetermined by previous events and the laws of nature. However there are many who came to be known as indeterminists who reject the notion that free will is absent from the process that causes events to occur. Indeterminists believe that there are possible events that have different probabilities of occurring based on human beings free will. Then Chisholm’s view of the agent-casual theory presents humans as always going through a decision process when making an action that leads up to an event they work through their desires in first and second order volitions and then they act. These actions are free from previous events and cannot…

    • 1580 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Q1a Freud defines the “apparently insignificant errors made by normal people” as the errors with a psychological basis such as excitement, fatigue, illness, and disorders. In other words, they are caused by distractions of one’s attention, either by psychic or organic factors. The “apparently significant errors” include some inaccuracies of speech in which a person unintentionally uses a wrong word or misreading in writing or the print (Freud, 1920). In contrast, Freud outlines other errors based on forgetfulness that, in essence, cannot be remembered in a certain time interval. For instance, mislaying items that cannot be found again are not of interest.…

    • 1164 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Fate, Destiny, and You: Assessment Paper In class we watched the film The Adjustment Bureau and in this film there was many instances that challenged free will with determinism. It’s very hard to not think about fate and destiny. There are many ways to answer what exactly our destiny is.…

    • 961 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Psychologically speaking, as humans, we are wired to think that we have the freedom to act and do based upon our own self judgment. For simplistic reasons, let’s assume that this “freedom” is analogous to free will which is a philosophical idea in which to act freely is to have multiple open futures and possibilities, or to be able to choose between many different choices. Determinism is the belief that every event (including action, choices, and decisions) is the inevitable result of a causal chain of events. In other words, a choice with an action (A) is the inevitable result of an earlier action of an earlier choice. This principle presents a problem for the concept of free will.…

    • 1265 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Human behavior is defined as the array of every physical action and observable emotion associated with individuals, as well as the human race as a whole. In other words, our behavior is influenced by our emotions towards the things around us and our own self-interest. The root of our self-interest stems from the set of value society places on possessions. With that said, humans cannot be trusted to be productive in society due to out innate behavior and greed John Locke, an optimist during the Glorious Revolution, anonymously published the Second Treatise of Government in 1698; an essay that defines human rationality. The “state of nature” mentioned in this essay is a fantasy society where there is no government, perfect equality, and freedom.…

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Stating that two existential suppositions that have been perceived as intrinsically antithetical (in traditional social and philosophic perspectives) are actually capable of coexistence is relatively contentious, but Ayer’s justification of causal determinism incorporated with freedom of volition implements synchronous aspects of both philosophical perceptions and manifests as a logical conclusion to the activities of humans: compatibilism, the abstraction that humans possess the capacity to select subsequent events based upon their actions, but availability of such alternatives is dependent upon anterior options. An individual who is a proponent for unequivocal determinism or absolute freedom of will, would be of the contention that due to…

    • 839 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The four sources of behavior are Social-Structural, Cultural, Biological, and psychological. Starting off with Biological it which is genetics, milestones, physical changes, physical illness, congenital issues. For example, Fedal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is when a mother drinks while she is pregnant, and the drinking causes FAS. A child born with FAS is a little slower, and their development is a behind other than that they look as normal as any other child. One women from the video we watched in class said that she felt as if she was stupid because no matter how hard she tried she did not comprehend school work.…

    • 786 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    - Compatibilism: ○ Free-will goes along with determinism because of moral responsibility. (accountability) ○ Or...our actions are determined, but we can still be held responsible for our voluntary actions - Based on how free-will is understood ○ Free-will in this case is the way one acts on their own § freedom of the will to act, or not act, without coercion - Our heredity/past determines how we act.…

    • 585 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Every action taken, every thought, and every belief a person has results from their mental identity and a series of choices they have made. The presence of free will in society is a stubborn one despite scientific findings people cannot let go of the idea that they control their own destiny. Free will is the inspiration for…

    • 815 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Men is a masterpiece of creation if for no other reason than that, all the weight of evidence for determine notwithstanding, he believes, he has free will” by George Christoph Lichtenberg. This quote shows how you decide your own destiny and that you are the only person who chooses what you want to do. I believe free will is something a person should be able to enjoy because you are the one who is able to make your own decision of what you desire of and also what you want your life to be like. But fate is also something astonishing because fate happens for a reason, good or bad, it does not foreshadows you to think what event would happen next in your life. My thoughts on free will are something you decide to do and you do it without being…

    • 400 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Humans decisions are in the hands of each own. Their opportunity to make use of each decision expresses our free will. In life, humans determine whether their freedom of making their decision is too extreme, and if they should make that decision or not. Sometimes that pushes us to our limit and forces us to do things we are not usually accustomed to doing. While we express the opportunity to showcase free will, there are limits that can stop the idea of it, for example laws.…

    • 768 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    SOCIAL AND GENETIC DETERMINISM SUBMITTED BY DATED SOCIAL AND GENETIC DETERMINISM Social determinism There are two famous theories of human behaviors worldwide and also discussed in our course work. One theory of human behavior is derived by the B.F Skinner in which he focuses on the environments and beliefs which derive and influence the behavior of living organisms.…

    • 2042 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There has been many different theories about the topic of Free will. For instance, does free will even truly exist, is it defined by our own religious beliefs or is it simply brought on by cause and effect. Free will is nothing more than our own personal freedom to make choices in our lives. It can be brought on by an urge or naturally carefree feeling, to be able to choose with out the interference or opinions of others. A free course of action driven by our own means of self gratification for the betterment of oneself.…

    • 1101 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Pragmatism offers us a way to evaluate our beliefs and find truths in a practical manner. This makes it of more worth than other epistemological philosophies which are often concerned more with knowledge, or the idea of knowledge. Pragmatism provides us with a way to truth through evaluation of beliefs and ideas. This done by taking an idea or belief and evaluating the effect it would have on your actions if you continued, or discontinued that belief.…

    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Importance Of Pragmatism

    • 2425 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Pragmatism is a Philosophical movement or system having various forms, but generally stressing practical consequences as constituting the essential criterion in determining meaning truth or value. The word Pragmatism as a piece of technical terminology in philosophy refers to a specific set of associated philosophical views originating in the late 19th century. Pragmatism as a Philosophical movement began in the United States in the 1870s; C.S. Peirce is given credit for its development along with later 20th century contributors, William James and John Dewey. Pragmatic Method implies attitude of orientation, it is looking away from first principles and towards fruits, consequences and facts. According to William James “Pragmatic has no…

    • 2425 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Improved Essays