Free Blacks Essay

Can you escape fate? Are we free or are we influenced by outside factors? Does our past determine our future? Philosophers have presented two opposing views to answer the aforementioned questions; do we follow free will or determinism? Free will is the concept that we are free to make our own decision. Determinists argue that actions, just like our world, are based on cause and effect. The following essay will explore the concept of free will, determinism and compatibilism; a concept that some…

only viable position in the debate concerning free will and determinism. In doing so, I will present, explain, and critically evaluate compatibilism. I will then consider, but ultimately refute, the following two objections against compatibilism: the hard determinists’ argument that we have no free will due to causal determinism and the libertarians’ argument that we are not causally determined. Compatibilism is the theory that causal determinism and free will are both true. Causal determinism…

Free Will in Theology In the Christian faith, it is taught at a young age that God gave man free will in order to make one’s own decisions, however time and time again, both throughout history and the Bible, as well as other religious texts, that man abuses the power to make their own decisions and falls away from their gods in order to do what is superficially beneficial to themselves. From Eve being influenced by Lucifer and eating the apple of her own free will, to more modern examples of…

When discussing the humane contrast between Free Will and Determinism, Free Will is the side I support. My argument is the concept that all natural occurrences can’t always be explained, but they “just happen”. Even though scientific facts contradict Free Will, a balance of the two beliefs is very possible and is controversial in modern conversation. All human beings contain Free Will in any scenario or situation they encounter; Although this is different for each individual and their beliefs.…

novel The Sparrow, the complexities of social and structural sin, as well as fate and free will are evident. In class, we defined free will as making the conscious decisions of the choices in one’s life, and fate as very one-dimensional, where one’s outcome is already pre-determined (Theodicy PPT). In a story where God is present, it is hard to decide whether following what you believe to be Gods path is fate or free will, which is challenged in The Sparrow. Furthermore, The Sparrow follows the…

other deities sit in the halls of Jove, looking down on the mortals. They are “filled with pity”(X.898) while watching the mortals fight a battle manipulated by the gods themselves. Amidst the chaos, I will argue that humans only have a superficial free will because the choices they make always becomes ministerial, for the gods will always interfere for personal gains and entertainment; thus mortals are never at the liberty to choose their own paths. I will defend this claim by analyzing…

nothing but a collection of organized chemicals that run physical brains in a deterministic machine-like way” (The Grand Design, 31; The Selfish Gene, 19). Both statements come from two of the greatest minds in science and entirely reject the idea of free will. Dawkins and Hawking, along with many other modern day scientists, assume humans do not make choices on their own capacity but rather choices that are predetermined by many different circumstances (Nichols). Most people tend to disagree…

Discussion regarding free will is inescapable in philosophy, as a correct characterization of free will is paramount in comprehending our place in the world, as well as how to navigate it. Spinoza and Descartes have both conjured up an interpretation of free will that is consistent with their own systems of metaphysics but drastically different from the conclusions of their counterparts. In this essay, I will summarize and contrast their views, and demonstrate how each of their analysis of free…

may have reasons for evil existing, the main reason being to allow humans to have free will. Before I present my…

concerns us and with a related kind of moral responsibility -- the freedom in question being voluntariness” (Honderich). Compatibilism is a medium between the two in that it does not justify determinism but takes the stance that neither determinism nor free will conflict with the other…