Free Will and Decision Making
Free will is the natural ability of a person to choose between varieties of actions that are unimpeded. It is a widespread belief to assume that everyone has a free will and can make a decision regarding the outcome of his or her own life. The question is, 'Are mankind really free to make his or her decisions?' According to philosophical views of free will, to some extent, free will exists, but another categorical view suggests that decisions are dependent on certain conditions in life.
The Value of Philosophy
The question somehow relates to Bertrand Russell's view on the value of philosophy. The discipline is studied not to give specific answers to the questions because it is difficult to assign such answers. According to what Russell describes as 'a rule', no answer to the philosophical question is known to be true (Russell 23). We should, therefore, focus on the questions themselves in order to expand our beliefs of the possibilities, when we enlarge our conception the outcome is enlarging our intellectual imaginations and disregard the beliefs that constrict our mind to a particular belief and discourage speculation. Again, Russell describes human mind as 'great,' and its union with the universe makes the world a good place. The relevance of this question is, its I answer is debatable, and it focuses on giving diverse views about the reality of free thinking and allows the learner to the diverse opinions and not just a particular baseless belief.
Determinism and Free Will
The value of the question of free-will in relation to humanity is the point of focus since we cannot obtain a specific answer to attach. Determinism perspective of the question begins with an observation that for anything to happen there must be a particular reason behind it and the further one goes to explain the course of action the more determinist he or she becomes. Hard determinism further contemplates that everything someone does has an initial cause in the person's life, nature or nurture. The determinists' ideology has two major problems: the empirical models best known have never properly explained human behavior to completion hence determinism is still regarded as a mere faith. Another problem the determinists are no clear on is the young children concept of free will from belief in cultural universality. Question on why people believe in free will if it is actually a reflection, to determinists, the reason is humanity do not understand the unconscious pre-determinants of the decisions we make. Another possible challenge to the determinists is the idea of undermining the quantum level, even though the outcomes to larger objects like human beings is quite clear, again, scientific research reveals that to some extent animal evolution instilled a degree of randomness in the way they behave. If this is true, then this randomness in animals would undermine the hard determinism point of view of free will.
Libertarianism and Free Will
Libertarianism has a complete divergent opinion from that of determinists. To an extent the try to argue in favor of the existence of free will (Franklin 13). To some extent, choice is available even after inclusion of nature and nurture that can drive an individual into doing something. To them, free will imply that a person has a freedom of choice from a variety of ideas and the base of our inference is the existence of experiences. Decisions that shape our future would be un-applicable without free will. Reflecting our past choices shall also be pointless without applying free will. At times we have to overcome the strong impulses in us, and our belief in free will can shape our experiences. Libertarianism recognizes a degree of self-standing above the background, preferences, and our characters. According to Stephen Pinker, 'the ghost in the machine' the human mind and body are two separate entities altogether. However, there is no supportive evidence a soul outside the reality of the cause and result, this makes libertarianism to depend on a heap of faith. The mysterious meaning of the self or soul does not explain how an abstract substance can interact with material substances. The introduction of neuroscience has substituted the traditional belief in soul control. Again, self and soul cannot make decisions. Charles Arthur Campbell refutes the idea of free will by saying, 'to account for a free act is a contradiction in terms...' Meaning none can support their own decisions.
The Compatibility of Free Will and Determinism
In conclusion, merging free will and determinism can be successful, a situation called compatibilism. This can only happen in the absence of externalities since the free action is not a result of causes but lack of constraints. The origin of the choices we make is regardless as long as we can follow our desires, which is free will. Denis Hume further explains that as long as one is not imprisoned or chained, he is a free thinker. People can, therefore, accept free will and determinism but everyone must be accountable for their actions. I'll summarize my idea of free will with Harry Frankfurt's resolution that people have a number of desires, but they only have a free will when the desire you identify most wins.
Work Cited
Franklin, Richard Langdon. Freewill and determinism: A study of rival conceptions of man. Vol. 7. Taylor " Francis, 2017.
Russell, Bertrand. The Philosophy of Bertrand Russell. Tudor Publishing Company: New York, 2013.
