Over more than two millennia, the concept of free will” has become the definitive expression indicating a large degree of autonomy over someone’s decisions. To comprehend the essence and presence of this form of authority in humankind, significant philosophers over the generations, including Plato, Aristotle, and Augustine, all investigated the notion of free will. They wanted to determine whether or not people had the power to decide themselves and what their ultimate value was. Humans are compelled to take into account issues with justice or injustice, right and wrong, morality and immorality, condemnation and commendation, retribution and punishment, to evaluate the relevance of free will in human existence. The study of free will however raises some purely factual issues, such as whether or not individuals have free will and how much extent that freedom is constrained by social norms and legal restrictions. Human free will in the world Is limited by society’s ethical standards and laws which are made to determine what is wrong and right and help individuals in making their decisions.
Even though humans ought to be given the authority to decide and take actions that are good for their well-being their free will also should be restricted. If everybody is given the freedom to do what they feel is right for them there will end up with no law and order in society. In every community, there are a set of rules and guidelines which helps in determining what is socially right and wrong and control human free will (Fox et al., 2018). Additionally, there are law enforcement officers and departments such as the court of law to ensure and enforce the rule of law in the community. Their role is to ensure that everyone follows the set rules in society. If someone fails to abide by these laws they are subject to being punished or being isolated from others and jailed. Therefore human free will in the world is limited by the set rules that govern our societies. Every decision and course of action that individuals take has consequences (Ekstrom, 2018). If they make decisions and take actions that are in line with the set laws in the community they will be appreciated as law-abiding citizens. On the other hand, if an individual actions and decisions go against the set laws they will be punished and in some cases isolated from the others in the community and taken to jail. This practice helps in maintaining law and order in the community and controlling the actions of people in society to avoid various forms of conflict. Therefore to maintain law and order in the community the free will of the human being is controlled by the set community laws and ethics.
Moreover, human free will is also controlled by the governments to ensure all the citizens’ basic rights are protected and to improve the living standards of people in the community. If everybody is given the free will to do everything they want in the community without being controlled they may end up interfering with the well-being of others in the community (Graafland, 2020). For example, if parents are given the absolute right to choose whether to take their children to school or not some will choose not to take them to school. This practice will deny the young people the chance to acquire basic education which will affect their chances of becoming prosperous in life when they grow up. Therefore all over the world human free will is controlled and restricted by various set rules in the community to ensure everyone gets equal opportunities and to protect the well-being of all members regardless of their social status and background.
However even though in most areas of life human free will is limited, in some instances the law and various organizations cannot control and restrict human decisions and actions. In some cases, humans’ decisions and actions are fully in their control and they can freely take the course of actions that they feel is best for them (List, 2019). For instance, during the election people are given the opportunity to freely chose the leaders they feel will better serve them. Also, individuals have free will to choose a career path that better suits their hearts’ desires. In such cases instead of trying to control their decisions and actions, the authorities focus on educating people on how to make informed decisions that will benefit them and those around them. For instance, various organization educates people directly and use the media before an election on the quality of a good leader and how to choose one who is the best for them. Also, the various learning institutions and governments focus on teaching the students how to determine and choose a career that best suits their fields and the ones that will lead them to acquire success in their life. Therefore not in all cases the authorities have the power to control and restrict human free will in society but they educate them on how to make moral decisions that will benefit them and others in the community.
All in all, free will grants individuals in the community the full authority to be the authors of their choices and decisions without being interfered with by external forces. However human’s actions have to be restricted and controlled in the community to maintain n law and order and ensure the well-being of everybody in the society. The existence of free will in humans is constrained by socially created laws and ethical standards that establish what is right and wrong and aid people in making judgments. There won’t be any rules and order in society if everyone is allowed to do what they believe is best for them. Every community has a collection of laws and regulations that serve as a guide for what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Though the human free will is constrained in most aspects of life, there are some situations where the law and other institutions are powerless to influence and limit people’s choices. As a result, the government does not always have the authority to impose limits on people’s freedom of choice in society, but it does provide individuals with moral guidance on how to make decisions that will benefit both themselves and others.
References
Darby, R. R., Joutsa, J., Burke, M. J., & Fox, M. D. (2018). Lesion network localization of free will. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(42), 10792-10797. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1814117115
Ekstrom, L. W. (2018). Free will: A philosophical study. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429500367
Graafland, J. (2020). When does economic freedom promote well being? On the moderating role of long-term orientation. Social Indicators Research, 149(1), 127-153. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-019-02230-9
List, C. (2019). Why free will is real. Harvard University Press. https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=dnSPDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=free+will&ots=TeDTow9V3D&sig=-ws-H3nakU1OwcXnoZDV5s66kWE&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=free%20will&f=false
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