The Concept of Free Will
The philosophical term “free will” is used to describe the capacity of a rational agent to decide on a course of action from a range of varieties unimpeded. Although several philosophers have not agreed on what course is the free will course; they have at the least agreed that it is closely related to moral responsibility. Therefore an individual acting on free will fulfils the metaphysical requirements of one being responsible of their own actions. In this concept, only actions that entirely freely willed that are perceived to deserve credit or blame. However, threats to the possibility of free will depending on how different individuals conceive free will have raised concerns that have led to debate. Debates on free will are ideally centered in whether free will is compatible with casual determinism or not, which is also the base of this essay.
Determinism and Free Will
Determinism is the philosophical theory that holds the notion of all events, state affairs, inclusive of moral decisions and actions, is entirely a consequence of antecedent events and the laws of nature. However this does not mean they are pre-determined. Determinism is known to utterly contrast free will. Laws of nature are assumed to be pushy and therefore, making things to happen in certain way. Thus by having the powers, just by their existence allows us to explain why certain things happen the way they do and they are absolutely thought to be the cause of everything happening (Pereboom, 2016). The roots of the ideas of determinism lies the philosophical idea that everything is principally explainable and it has a reason for being what it is and not anything else.
The Role of Determinism in Human Behavior
Psychologists have explained determinism as being outside an individual in that a person’s behavior, IQ and other related characters are determined by the parent’s or ancestral behaviors. Behaviorists state that human behavior, which is as a result of decisions and choice is as a result physical and psychological reinforcers and punishments and none of it is as a result of our choices. For example a person that commits crime is propelled by environmental circumstances and personal history but not his/her choices which make his actions natural and inevitable. Basically, determinism does not whatsoever credit free will for choices as the causes of things or people’s behavior. However, there are philosophers who argue that there is freedom in determinism whereas others oppose.
Libertarianism: Opposing Determinism
Libertarianism, a major opposer of determinism, argues that free will is logically incompatible with determinism, stating that people are free willed which makes determinism false. Libertarianism, which one of the major theories under incompatibilism, holds onto the notion that an individual should be free willed which enables them to take more than one possible state of affair in specific circumstances (Pereboom, 2016). This means that our choices are free from determination or constraints of any human nature as well as free from predetermination from God. Libertarians are of the opinion that freedom is of essence for moral responsibility because if our choices were determined or caused by anything then it would not be called free choices and therefore not worth credit or blame and it would make no one responsible for their actions (Kane, 2015). Because in this context, responsibility means that one could have done otherwise but decided on doing what they did. Libertarianism is associated with open theism, which holds that God does not foreknow or predetermine the free choices of people.
Compatibilism: Reconciling Determinism and Free Will
On the other hand compatibilism perceives that free will is compatible with determinism. Some philosophers are of the opinion that determinism is necessary for free will. They argue that for one to make a choice they must prefer one course of action over the other, which requires knowledge of how choices will turn out. This leaves the debate by determinists and libertarianists over free will versus determinism as just a false dilemma. They consider free will as just a freedom of action. Ideally, compatibilists believe in the sovereignty of God and that one just chooses what God has determined them to choose. Therefore, determinism and free will merge in the sense that, God is in charge (determinism) but also man can be held responsible for their actions (Kane, 2015). Like in the previous example of a person breaking law and blaming it on natural course making law breaking inevitable, a court of law makes its judgment without considering metaphysics, to determine whether the person was acting on their free will or not and it assumes that they could have acted otherwise than reality.
The Complexity of Free Will and Determinism
It is hard to see how, if everything I do is fixed or caused, I can meaningfully state that am a free willed person. I do not have the power to change the law of nature, nor change the past so that I can fairly choose my own course of action. It is also hard to believe that what we do is entirely our free will, some things just happen either due to genetics or nature. Therefore, human behaviors and actions are both as a result of free will and determinism.
References
Kane, R. (2015). A contemporary introduction to free will. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Pereboom, D. (2016). Living without free will. Cambridge [u.a.]: Cambridge Univ. Press.
