Humans are unique from other creatures in the world in that they can make decisions about their life. That means they can decide on the actions to take based on their situations. Various theories try to explain the interaction of humans and how they make decisions. For instance, the concept of free will is dominant in most scholarly works. Most scholars argue that people can make decisions that affect their lives. As per this reasoning, it means most people in the world engage in activities they fully understand their consequences.
On the contrary, other scholars support the concept of determinism. This concept insinuates that various circumstances in their surroundings pressure people to act in a given way. The existence of diverging views raises debates on which one is the true concept. This paper discusses some of the strongest arguments for and against determinism and free will.
The determination concept holds that the action of human beings is, in most cases, propelled by internal and external forces. That means human beings have no freedom to decide what they ought to do. Based on this information, the argument for the determination concept arises from causal determinism. Based on this school of thought, the decisions and actions of human beings are influenced by the situations they face in real life. Borrowing the concepts from metaphysics, some forces keep objects in or out of their position. For example, a mango is usually pulled down from a tree by gravitational force. That is, if no external force were acting on the mango, it would have stayed in that position until its internal processes dictated otherwise.
Basing the causal argument on the real-life example, people are directed by both internal and external factors to make decisions. For example, one does not freely decide to look for food. The internal process propels him or her to look for what to do it. That is, people feel hungry and are urged to look for food. It is also the need to void feeling hunger in the future that motivates them to continue working to buy food. Based on Boston (2020), the physical activities in the brain determine a person’s actions. For example, the type of food to take may be determined by the individual’s appetite. In that context, the concept of free will is purely an illusion.
Free will is a philosophical concept suggesting that people can make choices that originate from the intrinsic being without manipulating other internal or external factors. One of the strongest arguments for this is that human beings have self-determination and can freely make choices. Brian &Chilton (2021), God grinds every creature the freedom to make choices. God uniquely created every human being and allowed him to decide based on his life. One is free even to choose to obey or disobey God. As Dew and Gould (2019) indicate, God is behind everything that happens in one’s life, whether good or bad. That means, since God has given man the freedom to make choices, they everything that happens is based on free will.
In conclusion, the debate for and against free will may not end soon due to various arguments presented by people. Those who argue against free will believe external factors influence decisions and actions. However, it is argued that God controls every action of human beings; thus, everything that happens is out of God’s will.
References
Boston (2020). Science Has Not Refuted Free Will. https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/christian-list-has-science-refuted-free-will/
Brian G. Chilton. G., C (2021). Loki and the Problem of Determinism. https://www.moralapologetics.com/wordpress/loki719
Dew Jr. & Paul M. Gould (2019). Philosophy: A Christian Introduction.
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