Causality

Is the problem of free will really a problem at all? Some may take comfort in knowing that all their choices are of their own free will, and others may take comfort in knowing that everything is predetermined. The avenues we could go down in which to analyze the problem of free will are endless; I’m going to touch base on just a few key points. One point of view is that physics controls outcomes in your life. Another point of view possibility is that you have complete control. Is our free will…

In Riddles of Existence, Conee and Sider go over the description of free will. In this paper I will be discussing the problems of free will and also the determinist, libertarian, and compatibilist responses to this problem. I will also be mentioning some benefits and drawbacks of each position and the responses of a few philosophers. Free will consists of two beliefs. Belief one believes you have free will and the main point of belief one is that most people can act freely. Therefore, there…

Salter Analysis In James Salter’s essay, “Once upon a time, Literature. Now what?”, he explains how language and literature are essential components to society. He continues to highlight the importance of literature by stating how much knowledge can be shared through reading. In addition to this, Salter begins to highlight how changes in modern culture have negatively impacted literature. Similarly, he goes on to state that literature is becoming less and less popular especially to the masses.…

Does poverty cause psychopathology or does psychopathology cause poverty? That is the question underlying the debate between social causation and social selection as potential theories to explain the relationship between socio-economic status (SES) factors and psychopathology. Social causation theory suggests that stress resulting from adversity, including living in poverty, increases risk for psychopathology; meanwhile, social selection theory contends that genetic predisposition to…

The issue I will address in this paper is known as “compatibilism.” By definition, compatibilism is the idea that determinism is true, every event in the world is caused, and that free will still exist. I will explore Walter Terrence Stace’s version of compatibilism, explaining why he thinks learned professors of philosophy and psychology incorrectly define free will by confusing the meaning of the words. I will assess Stace’s argument; that indeterminism is not what it is meant by the phrase…

Brittany Kozlowski Dr. Bachyrycz Philosophy 120 12/11/14 In the middle of the 18th century there was a great philosopher named David Hume. Hume could be compared to some of the best philosophers to ever exist. Hume was a man that was committed to the truth. Hume believed in determinism which is the view that all events, including human actions, are necessitated, or caused, by conditions prior to the occurrence of the event. Hume said “It is universally allowed that matter in all its operations,…

Aristotle further lengthens his study of syllogism in On Interpretation to study modal logic. Modal logic is phrases that use possibly or necessarily. On Interpretation does bring up a problem about a fixed future. The problem is that what happened in the past either happened or it didn’t, therefor what happens in the future will either happen or it will not. So that brings up the idea of a fixed future. Aristotle rejects this idea of a fixed future and says that what is said about the future…

Sometimes, many actions such as manufacturing business can bring in many effects. The cause and effect issue, let me just explain what I mean by that. Just as one product becomes the bestselling product in the supermarket and becomes the most demanding. Meaning that it will be needed more often and it would require more manufacturing, which means that companies that practice food engineering would need to ensure more manufacturing of that product. For example, if it’s a gallon of milk, think…

Free will is a voluntary act and by definition, it is being able to act on one’s own beliefs and desires. The question of whether or not humans have free will is one that has been discussed for centuries. Do we, as humans, have the ability to act at one’s own discretion? Before getting into free will and all the topic has to offer, it is important to understand the topics of freedom and determinism. When we discus freedom, we usually discuss the idea that each and every person has control of…

Causal arguments are always invalid since there is no guarantee of any truth between the premises and the conclusion of the statement. Causal arguments base their truth on the degree of likelihood or probability as the cause of a certain circumstance. A causal argument asserts that there exists a correlation between the occurrences of two events in a particular situation. It asserts that the occurrence of one event is dependent on the other such that occurrence of “X” happened as a result of…