The ideas of freedom, fate and necessity are all integrated in our lives, especially through our actions. As people, our freedom is what gives us the right to make our own decisions, but with freedom can also come consequences if we decide to do something that takes us in the wrong direction. Fate chooses us and we can’t determine what happens, whether it’s who are parents are, what is our ethnicity, whether we are male or female or even when we die. Necessity similar to cause and effect, has to have some reason as to why a particular thing happened. According to Homer in his famous poem the Iliad and Aristotle, we will see how they look at freedom, fate and necessity and how it is incorporated in the actions that we take and how it affects …show more content…
The argument that Aristotle addresses is what makes an action voluntary or involuntary and if an action is done because of ignorance than it is involuntary. Whatever we are responsible for doing based on our actions, that’s who we will become. Aristotle argues that fate has nothing to do with us being responsible for our actions. Which I have to disagree with because fate is something out of our control, there is no way we are going to know what is going to happen. But, the actions that we do, good or bad, we are responsible for them because we did them so we may not know what the consequences may be but we know we will get in trouble for them. An example that I thought of when I was reading this was if someone gets in trouble with the law, the police officer has a choice to arrest you and possibly put you in jail. To me, the police officer’s choice has to do with fate because the person who broke the law has no control over the results of his actions and the police’s actions. He also has this idea of character and that whatever actions we take, that is who we will become in the long run, if someone does something out of ignorance, they will become ignorant. I think your character has a lot to do with the actions you do because when you do something, if it’s moral or immoral, that’s how people are going to view you. Once you become something or act a certain way, it will be hard for you to not be that person. I think virtue is important when it comes to your character because being virtuous allows you to handle situations in a respectful and well-mannered way because you have those moral
In final conclusion, one could confidently argue that Fate is unjustifiable, but Fate is in no sense impossible to defeat. To break the bonds and limitations of Life, the handiest tool is the courage among the stragglers. In Reality, there are factors that are outside the physical variances; and that is the strength within our minds, which aims not to those material benefits, but the refinement of our Bravery through the journeys. And this goal should be the highest pursue of a wise person, who must care little of the difficulties posted by external forces, and conquer those difficulties with high spirits and become a stronger being.
In respect to the arguments of Ayer and Holbach, the dilemma of determinism and its compatibility with that of free will are found to be in question. Holbach makes a strong case for hard determinism in his System of Nature, in which he defines determinism to be a doctrine that everything and most importantly human actions are caused, and it follows that we are not free and therefore haven’t any moral responsibility in regard to our actions. For Ayer, a compatibilist believing that free will is compatible with determinism, it is the reconciliation and dissolution of the problem of determinism and moral responsibility with free willing that is argued. Ayer believes that this problem can be dissolved by the clarification of language usage and the clarification of what freedom is in relationship to those things that oppose freedom or restrain it. In either case, what is at stake is the free will of an agent, and whether or not that agent is morally responsible. What is to be seen from a discussion of these arguments is the applicability and validity of these two philosophies to situations where one must make a choice, and whether or not that person is acting freely and is thus responsible given his current situation. In this vein, the case of Socrates’ imprisonment and whether or not he acted freely in respect to his decision to leave or stay in prison can be evaluated by the discussion of the arguments presented in respect to the nature of free will in its reconciliation with determinism in the compatibilist vein and its absence in the causality of hard determinism.
Another thought that exemplifies the significance that free will holds, is seen in elements of Sophocles' classic, which revealed that Oedipus had more knowledge over the details of his dilemma than he let himself become conscious of. The last idea will reveal how the onset of fear will push people down a treacherous path of risk and pain, which is also seen in the play through multiple characters. Free will is an attribute that all people possess. It could work as a tool to get individuals through the scary twists their lives may entail. It could also work against them in many ways, which depends on the level of human weakness and ignorance. But, the most important assertion that can be made after considering the argument of, "fate vs. free will," is that...
Fate is an old debated concept. Do one's actions truly play a role in determining one's life? Is fate freedom to some or is it binding to others, in that no individual can make completely individual decisions, and therefore, no one is truly free. Nowadays, fate is a subject often rejected in society, as it is seen as too big, too idealistic, and too hard to wrap a persons head around. However, at the time of Antigone, the concept was a terrifying reality for most people. Fate is the will of the gods, and as is apparent in Antigone, the gods' will is not to be questioned. Much of Sophocles' work focuses on the struggle between human law and what is believed to be the god’s law. Fate was an unstoppable force and it was assumed that any efforts to change one's future were unrealistic. In Sophocles' Antigone, fate plays a crucial role the choices that the characters make.
Some people believe that all of their actions are predetermined; almost as if it is set and stone. On the other hand, others believe that you make your own actions and decisions. The story of Oedipus Rex is one of the best examples for this because Oedipus is faced with the impending truth of his foretold prophecy, but continues to try and avoid it through his own choices. No amount of running and hiding could free him from what he was always going to be condemned to; killing his father and sleeping with his mother. In the end, it was fate that led to his downfall, and fate that controls the lives of people.
...that fate. Events that lead to other events will eventually lead one to their fate. “Oedipus the King” is a great play that sets an example of what fate is. Oedipus chooses to flee from home, in attempt to avoid the god’s statement of his fate from coming true. However, Oedipus’s decision for fleeing is what was necessary to make his fate come true. Undoubtedly, this is what was meant to happen because Oedipus allowed it to. Perhaps if Oedipus ignored the god and never did a thing then perhaps the outcome could have been different for Oedipus. However it did not turn out that way and the choices that Oedipus made is what led him to his doom.
In Greek mythology as a whole, fate does have a sizeable role in most tales. However, the definition of fate for the ancient Greeks extends from the common definition. The definition of fate that is familiar to us is anything that happens for an unknown reason and is out of our control. But in Greek mythology fate also involves divine intervention from the gods of Olympus. They are able to change outcomes and alter situations to the point where what occurs might not have happened without them. In The Odyssey, gods have a very prominent role. But you cannot just discuss fate by itself. Free will is also a factor. Free will is mankind’s ability to make decisions control the aspects of one’s life. In The Odyssey life is the individual’s responsibility.
Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied,/ And vice sometime by action dignified.” (II. iii. 21-22.) The human condition follows the path of fate. Everyone makes choices out of their own free will which affects their life at that time, but will ultimately lead to their predetermined destiny. People inflict their own wounds during their life by the choices that they make. Some people may not believe that fate is something that truthfully exists in the world. They trust that whatever occurs in their lives comes as a result of the decisions that they make with their own free will. Others, however, believe that whatever happens during the course of their lives is inevitable and that every event is predestined and laid out before them like a
In Sophocles ' Oedipus the King, the themes of fate and free will are very strong throughout the play. Only one, however, brought about Oedipus ' downfall and death. Both points could be argued to great effect. In ancient Greece, fate was considered to be a rudimentary part of daily life. Every aspect of life depended and was based upon fate (Nagle 100). It is common belief to assume that mankind does indeed have free will and each individual can decide the outcome of his or her life. Fate and free will both decide the fate of Oedipus the King.
“Every man has his own destiny: the only imperative is to follow it, to accept it, no matter where it leads him.” In other words, the connotation of this anonymous quote states that despite whatever one chooses to decide, the outcome of their choices and decisions will still result to their predetermined fate. Sophocles’ tragedy, Oedipus the King, demonstrates this statement throughout the play in the role of his tragic hero Oedipus. In the course of Oedipus’ actions of trying to escape his predestined fortune, his fate and flaws of being human played major roles to bring about his downfall.
“Think twice before you speak, because your words and influence will plant the seed of either success or failure in the mind of another”. This quote by Napoleon Hill signifies that whatever we do or say will have an impact on the people around us. This also shows how fate and free will can tie into influence. Whether it be a higher power deciding your life for you or choices that people make. Fate means being influenced by a higher power to fulfill your fate. Where free will is defined as having a personal choice for your behavior. In the play Oedipus king of Sophocles, Oedipus is destined to fulfill a prophecy. During his reign there is a curse put on Thebes. While looking for the murderer a prophet and one of his officials realize how ignorant
For ages, man has sought to be in command of his life. The common debate is whether we, as human beings, have free will or if a divine force, sometimes referred to as fate, determines our destiny. Though the two plays, Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Sophocles’s Oedipus were written in two different eras, these two ideas are common between them. Although Hamlet and Oedipus both strive to be in control of their lives, Oedipus refuses to accept his destiny and therefore unknowingly fulfills his fate.
In Oedipus the King, one of Sophocles most popular plays, Sophocles depicts that fate will control the journey of a man’s life through free will. In today’s society, people let their life’s to be controlled by certain believes they strongly abide. Throughout Oedipus the King, the concepts of fate versus free will plays a crucial role in Oedipus’s life. Oedipus personality causes him misfortunes through his downfall by continuously denying accepting his own fate, as his temper took a major tool on him, and the rational choices he made.
The ancient Greeks were mainly concerned with the relationship between fate and free will. This concern weaves in and out of the culture's most highly regarded literary works, including one of the earliest and most well-known texts ever written - the Odyssey. Homer's thrilling tale of King Odysseus' trials and tribulations on his homeward voyage from Ilium is littered...
A common struggle man faces is the question of who or what has power and control over his life. Does he have total control of his future, or is there a higher being at work that takes human lives into their own hands? Sophocles, in his work Oedipus Rex, establishes a view that gives fate, which is created by the gods, a seemingly inescapable characteristic over man. The role of fate is clearly defined, through the fulfillment of divine prophecy, and Oedipus’ inability to recognize prophecy as a realistic source of knowledge, as a fate that strikes a delicate balance with the free will of man.