Problems From Philosophy By James Rachells And Stuart Rachels

In chapter 9 “The Debate over Free Will” in the book “Problems from Philosophy”, by James Rachels and Stuart Rachels, they question whether or not people have free will. Throughout the chapter both of the authors gave some examples of some arguments (Determinist, Libertarian, Compatibilist, Ethics) that prove or dismiss the idea of free will. They both conclude that having free will is important but don’t determine just exactly how much free will people really have.

There were a few quotes throughout the chapter that I found to be interesting. The first one being “Our bodies and our brains are composed of atoms, and like everything else composed of atoms, they are subject to the laws of physics. And we, of course, have no control over the laws

I knew the laws of physics were applied to us physically but didn’t think it could affect us mentally. A quote that I agreed with was “The more we learn about the causes of human behavior, the less likely it seems that we’re free” (109). I agree with this because in the past I have learned that everyone at some point does things without even acknowledging it. Another interesting quote was “In a random, chaotic world, no one would be free, because free actions must be orderly and thoughtful. But in a world that operates according to the Laws of Nature, free action is possible. In such a world, a person’s character and desires can control what he does” (118). I thought this was interesting because it was a very ironic statement. If we lived in a world that really was “free”, meaning no laws or without an sort of organization, we wouldn’t be “free at all” compared to living in a world that has laws and is orderly. “It is sometimes suggested that the denial of free will would lead to a fatalistic attitude about the future: There would be no point in striving to change things, because the future must follow a set path” (119) and “The future depends on