Free will is an illusion, and people are not responsible for their behaviors. This idea is a hard deterministic approach that states that people do not have agency over their actions because they are determined by previous events that have already happened. If the present is caused by the past, and the present shapes the future, then the past determines the future. People are not immune to the things that are happening around them, and they believe they have free will, which is an illusion. They are also not responsible for their actions since it is determined by factors such as genetics, environment, and other factors that are beyond their control. This paper argues that human life has been determined and people are not responsible for their behavior, challenging the idea of compatibilism and libertarianism ideologies.
According to the determinist, every natural event and human behavior are equally the results of an inevitable cause. Every single event is causally influenced by earlier occurrences. This statement is the core of determinism. In this case, events are things that people think, decide, and do. The universal causality thesis is expressed by this premise. Determinism can only be avoided by rejecting the universal causality theory (Lawhead, 2022). Is it possible to disprove this hypothesis, though? Some people frequently believe that each and every physical occurrence, including changes in the weather, chemical reactions, and other types of occurrences, must be the necessary outcome of earlier events. Libertarians do not support this belief and state that people’s actions and behaviors are a result of their choices. The supporters of free will are contradictory, and the determinist state that people are not immune to causal factors that are happening all over the world.
According to the hard determinism theory, humans are not accountable for their acts since they are determined by physical and behavioral forces that are outside of their power. Therefore, the concept of free will is unfounded. The hard determinism theory makes the case that no behavior is free if it must take place according to universal laws. Therefore, it follows that events are set in motion by external forces before people have any control over them. Therefore, it stands to reason that no activity is free. It agrees with two premises first of all, “we are determined,” and secondly, ” If we are determined, then we lack the freedom necessary to be responsible” (Lawhead, 2022).
It is unavoidably true that an activity cannot be independent of forces of nature if it must take place in order to support these assertions. The hard determinist does not think that something is uncaused since they believe that everything is solely caused by some causal rules. People who question this assertion are invited to attempt to provide an instance of an uncaused occurrence. Nothing is free since everything that occurs is the result of a prior cause over which a person has no influence. The determinist responds that all human behaviors are motivated by desires, feelings, and other such factors. Hard determinism is incompatible, and it states that a lack of a free will means that people are not morally responsible for their actions.
The majority of individuals’ behavioral printability gives support to the notion that free will is an illusion and that people’s actions are not their responsibilities. This notion is accurate since it demonstrates that causal rules are what drives a person’s conduct, which can be foreseen. People will assume that an individual is crazy if their behavior is unexpected and not explained by causative rules. In addition, people may claim that decisions are made intentionally or accidentally. If someone chooses at random from options and makes a decision by accident, they are not accountable for their conduct. However, if they did not choose by chance, then certain causal laws are to blame for their conduct. According to Lawhead, “Spinoza says people are like the stone in that they are deceived because they think themselves free…” (2022). Philosophers such as Spinoza agree that the causes of actions are already determined, and it is foolish to believe that people have free will to choose what they want.
People would comprehend that occurrences, including individual choice, do not appear out of thin air if they had a proper understanding of reality. Everything that occurs is a result of factors that came before it. The same stone, according to Spinoza, would behave the same way every time it was placed under the exact same conditions (Lawhead, 2022). The determinist argues that if one could maintain the precise psychological condition they were in when they made a specific decision, such as who to date, which school to go to, or what to specialize in, and if one could place them back in the identical situation, their conduct would remain consistent. Of course, people occasionally have second thoughts or make different decisions than they did previously. The hard determinist, however, would contend that change must occur in order for it to be meaningful. If a person makes different decisions than they did in the past, this is likely due to a shift in either their psychological condition or the environment.
The philosophy of nature is also evidence that free will is an illusion. A philosophy of nature is a broad idea that explains all natural happenings. The ideal scientific explanation currently in all fields of study, including biology, physiology, and chemistry, is mechanical. Events simply do not take place because someone or something wants them to; rather, they occur because they have to and are forced to. Finding this crucial link between natural events is the business of science. According to this theory, mechanical law governs the cosmos in both its entirety and its constituent parts.’
Libertarianism is the opposite of determinism. The position known as libertarianism claims that persons do possess metaphysical free will. According to Lawhead, the libertarian opposes the claim that “we are determined” and supports the claim that “we do have the freedom necessary to be morally responsible” (2022). The libertarian contends that, at minimum, some human decisions are free and freed from causal inevitability, in opposition to the hard determinist. Free decisions are based on an individual’s free choice and are not the inescapable outcome of earlier events. The libertarian contends that, as a result, it is frequently difficult to forecast every aspect of a person’s conduct. While this argument may look appealing, a determinist would argue that free will or desires have prior history to them and they must come from some form of causal event and therefore are determined. According to Lawhead, determinists believe that people feel free to make choices because they ignore the external forces that are acting on them (2022). Libertarians believe in changing people’s behaviors and influencing them through punishment and rewards. However, if you can influence someone’s behavior, then there are forces that influence other people’s behaviors.
Compatibilists believe in the compatibility of free will with determinism. Compatibilism asserts that there is a compatibility of moral responsibility and determinism since free will is usually regarded to be a fundamental prerequisite of moral responsibility. According to compatibilists, moral responsibility can exist even in the absence of causality (Lawhead, 2022). The compatibilist essentially contends that if someone has situational freedom, they are acting from the perspective of freedom. As long as one’s behaviors are not dictated by outside circumstances but rather are primarily governed by one’s own psychological circumstances, that person is free and responsible. However, assertion poses a problem to the premise that people’s actions are determined. If people’s actions are determined, then why would there be some actions that are not determined? People cannot have free will if their actions are determined, and therefore, they are not responsible for their actions.
In summary, human behavior is caused by prior events that they have no control over, and their behaviors are not a result of free will. Most people believe that they have the freedom to choose what they want. This is a libertarian view that suggests that people are responsible for their actions. However, hard determinism argues that desires and events that may look like free will are simply occurrences that have happened earlier. Another ideology that challenges hard determinism is compatibilism. A compatibilist believes that free will and determinism can exist mutually, but a hard determinist would respond that since every action is determined, then people are not responsible for their actions.
Reference
Lawhead, W. (2022). The Philosophical Journey: An Interactive Approach (8th ed.) McGraw Hill.
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