Free will

There are two standard requirements for free will: alternate possibilities and ultimate responsibility. Alternate possibilities mean that the metaphorical path before any agent must be one with forking paths. In terms of alternate possibilities, free will requires the ability to do otherwise. In other words, open futures are necessary for free will to exist. This leads to the second condition for free will: ultimate responsibility. The basis of ultimate responsibility is that in order for an…

Before you can understand what Jean-Paul Sartre refers to as despair, anguish and abandonment, moreover condemned to be free, you should first understand the meaning of subjectivity. Furthermore, you need to understand that individual feelings (sadness, happiness, etc.) are not the objective in Sartre’s reason. Hence, you seem aware of the concept of existence precedes essence, however you abandon the notion of taking responsibilities of your choices by choosing ignorance; in turn, you…

accomplishing a task or purpose.” In the novel Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card, Ender the protagonist is told that “Human beings are free except when humanity needs them… Individual human beings are all tools that the others use to help us all survive” by a man named General Graff. Although all human beings deserve freedom, I believe that the statement, “Human beings are free except when humanity needs them… Individual human beings are all tools that the others use to help us all survive” by…

text book, is ‘A person who acts freely and knowingly’. Free will is defined by our textbook as “the power of acting without the constraint; the ability to act at one's own will, a gift from God’. In order for this to be true, you must have the ability to make decisions, free of constraints with full knowledge of what you’re doing. In this paper I will debunk the myth that children under twelve have the ability to be agents, and do not have free will. Children are subjected to many outer…

was probably never going to occur, and that the people in society should have free choice. Which is why they both believe that in order for a society to function, society should be structured in such a way that is unique and differently, that way the society can be just and good. Life, liberty and property- the three main rules of life according to John Locke, the main one, being liberty. Liberty is the state of…

question arises around freedom and, more specifically, to what extent is an individual free to make choices that affect the rest of their life. At one extreme, a person could argue that one does not have any freedom whatsoever, and that all the events of life are predestined and would occur regardless of the choices one makes. At the opposite end of the spectrum would be a person who argues that a human being is free to live whatever life they choose without any limitations. Sartre, based on his…

No, the fact of evil does not make it irrational to believe in God. Evil is real and is a result of our free will, which, I will argue, is the only plausible way God, who is characterized by His full attributes described in traditional theism, could have destined humanity to live. Further, a free world where evil exists is the only world where humans may become complete creations. In a free world, where we are presented with genuine choices of right or wrong, we are therefore able to grow…

The idea of moral responsibility is argued between determinists and libertarians, with the division being caused by the possibility of free will. Steven Cahn offers an explanation of the different views of free will with the three opinions being hard determinism, soft determinism, and libertarianism. In this writing, I am going to explain Cahn’s viewpoint, and his idea that freedom is not compatible with determinism. The setting for this argument begins with a criminal trial from the early…

- 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. ○ Otherwise our actions would be totally random and there for not free. - But because of…

a great deal of beliefs on free will. These beliefs had changed over the years of being a philosopher and psychologist as well as life events that formed his beliefs. While living at home after receiving his Doctor of Medicine degree he battled ill health along with severe depression. According to William James, the depression he was experiencing was due to “crisis of meaning” that were brought by his studies. At this time in his life he believed that the belief in free will and God were just…