Free Essays

Is free-will possible? The concept of free will has formed the basis of Judeo-Christian morality and its successor, our present modern secular morality. It refers to the “ability of a rational agent to choose a course of action among various alternatives” (O 'Connor). The rational agent can then be held morally responsible for his choice and its consequences. This key idea pervades our entire ethical and legal system allowing us to reward, punish and judge persons holding them responsible for…

Holbach’s View on Free Will Paul Holbach was a French philosopher who is a hard determinist meaning that he believes determinism is true, and if determinism is true then you cannot have free will, therefore free will does not exist. In Paul Holbach 's “The Illusion of Free Will,” he argues that people don’t have any free will and that nature determines every human’s actions and will. Free will is the ability for one to perform an action without any outside force influencing them and to be able…

In this case, I would argue that the man who threw the punch acted without free will. I would argue this considering that, in this instance, it is stated that he did so “without thinking”, indicating that this was not a consciously chosen behavior, at least from the attacker’s perspective. A libertarian might counter my position by saying that there was no physical event to cause the action, therefore the attacker must have acted freely. I answer by acknowledging that there is no physical action…

2014 Analysis of Free Will Concept in Boethius Free will is defined as being of one owns actions; voluntary. Yet the argument that presents itself and that has plagued the human mind for many centuries is if we are truly capable of free will. In order to solve this conundrum we must first know what free will truly is and how it is relevant in everyday life. Boethius’s work, The Consolation of Philosophy describes what free will is and the concepts that back the idea of free will itself. From…

A. J. Ayer’s analysis of free will is as follows (611): P1 If you would have chosen to act in a way other than you did, you would have P2 You acted voluntarily P3 You were not compelled to act in a certain way C1 Your action was the result of free will Ayer’s first premise for an act of free will states that if you would have decided to make a different choice, you would have made a different choice. This condition for free will addresses the determinism theory (everything that happens can be…

Freedom as a human, the feeling of acting through free will Being free! To lie on a beach with not a single care in the world. To not have an ounce of a guilt on a broad chest. The power of will that we give our self as people is very rare. We often as humans give our self no credit. We seem too think we are “useless” and “not good enough”. This is not the case. We are flawed and our actions are flawed, we give into what makes us seem evil or negative. This is not who we are, well unless your…

“Free Will” is a philosophical term of art for a particular sort of capacity of rational agents to choose a course of action from various alternatives. However, it is crucial to note that the action that we choose might not correspond to the outcome that we desire as free will is solely pertinent to the course of action, not the result. Throughout the millennia, a significant number of philosophers postulated that the concept of free will is in the vicinity of moral responsibility which in turn…

destroy in the name of God, Muslims qualify killing “as God 's will”, the U.S. Dollar claims “In God we Trust”. The integral part of religion is free choice, or destiny. To give humanity a fighting chance, God would make ten influential people in history to provide guidance and insight. These ten people would guide humanity with knowledge about free will. Free choice is a force that is used to effect dramatic change. Before the top ten people in history, you have the top ten oxymoron 's, ten…

the basis of free will and determinism and the question of their compatibility. I will argue alongside philosopher Peter van Inwagen that determinism and free will are incompatible. Exposition (300) Peter van Inwagen spoke a lot about having theories about a few notions such as free will, determinism, compatibilism and incompatibilism, and more. But what do these things mean? Free will and determinism are the main subjects of this argument, the two rulers of the opposing teams. Free will,…

Foreknowledge Versus Free Will The philosophical problem concerning human sin and God’s foreknowledge lies in the principle that if God is omniscient, humans cannot be held responsible for sin. This dilemma deals primarily with determinism and libertarianism. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy defines determinism as “the idea that every event is necessitated by antecedent events and conditions together with the laws of nature” (Hoefer, 1). Libertarianism can be defined by the denial of…