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Free will philosophy essay
Free will philosophy essay
The debate over free will
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Divine Foreknowledge.
Greek philosophy didn’t have an exact term for "free will" as Latin did, the argument was more about responsibility and things that depend on us. A Peripatetic (taught the methods of Aristotle) philosopher, during the late 2nd century and the beginning of the 3rd century CE. Alexander of Aphrodisias denied three beliefs that were held strong in Greek philosophy, those were; the foreknowledge of fated events, determinism, and necessity. Alexander believed that man is responsible for their own decisions, and have the free will to do something or not. That being said, in one of his short writing, called On Fate, Alexander argues against the Stoic (the Stoics taught that destructive emotions resulted from errors in judgment, and the active relationship between cosmic determinism and human freedom) concept of fate, he did not believe in the idea of the gods being able to know exactly what the future will be. He defends a responsible moral view that we call libertarianism now. Alexander argues in On Fate 22 by saying “When they are examined, the things that appeared are indeed as they
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It can interfere with human free will, why would some divine god know about something that is bound to happen and doesn’t want it to happen, why would he not interfere? This has happened in our society as well, we do it all the time! For example, something is bound to happen, like a serial killer who has been murdering and raping all these people has been known by the police officials, and they try to interfere with placing this serial killer into jail and in some cases even execute them. The officers would not stop and think if it is unethical for them to stop this one’s free will, but it would concern them more about its past victims and others that can happen if he is not stopped. So yes, divine foreknowledge can interfere with human free
The Existence of God Being Proved A Priori The existence of God can be proved a priori by a logical deduction from the concept of God, when we think about the idea of God we realise that real existence is an essential part of how we conceive the idea of God. God therefore necessarily exists so that it is impossible for him to not exist. I belive to be necessary to examine Anselm's version of the ontological argument, in order to answer the above question, namely whether God's existence can be proved a priori. Anselm states that a non believing fool (in the Psalms) can coceive the idea that God is 'a being than which none greater can be thought' because he understands it.
The reconciliation of God's nature and Man's free will has long been a subject of debate for philosophers and theologians. Christianity rests upon certain ideas about the nature of God and the universe. The Bible speaks of God as eternal, all-knowing, and as the very author of reality. The concept of God as a benevolent, omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent entity is rooted in thousands of years of church tradition. This tradition is so ingrained in Western culture, that, when one mentions "God", these ideas almost invariably come to mind.
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...
This is proven by the storyline of Oedipus’ childhood, King Laius’ death, and Oedipus’ arrival to Thebes where he marries Jocasta. Perhaps, every human being has a sense of “free will,” but will the decisions each individual makes lead him or her to a destination already
Imagine starting your day and not having a clue of what to do, but you begin to list the different options and routes you can take to eventually get from point A to point B. In choosing from that list, there coins the term “free will”. Free will is our ability to make decisions not caused by external factors or any other impediments that can stop us to do so. Being part of the human species, we would like to believe that we have “freedom from causation” because it is part of our human nature to believe that we are independent entities and our thoughts are produced from inside of us, on our own. At the other end of the spectrum, there is determinism. Determinism explains that all of our actions are already determined by certain external causes
A Scientific Understanding of God Two eighteenth century movements, the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening, changed American colonists’ views on reason and wisdom. The Enlightenment, led by philosophers such as John Locke, emphasized abstract thought to acquire knowledge. The European and American thinkers’ research led to a greater understanding of scientific phenomena and the questioning of the government’s rule. Similar to the Enlightenment, the Great Awakening changed colonists’ mode of thought through the concentration of emotion rather than wisdom. Reverend Jonathan Edwards, a Great Awakening revivalist, emphasized seeking salvation by recognizing one’s own moral corruption and surrendering to God’s will. Although the Great Awakening challenged religious, social and political orthodoxy, the Enlightenment had a greater impact on colonial America and vastly influenced future decisions. The Great Awakening reached a large quantity of people because of the traveling orators that preached the evangelical word. Although Enlightenment learning was limited to the wealthy, educated colonists, the movement’s influence was still stronger because the well-to-do ruled the land. Enlightenment philosophers began questioning corrupt governments and the combination of church and state. John Locke claimed that because the people created a government, then civilians could change the run of the government. This belief, perhaps, was the most influential to colonial society. Educated and powerful political leaders began questioning their government under British rule, therefore, igniting dreams of independence. The Enlightenment theory added to the oppression of British rule led to a revolution. Although not as significant as the Enlightenment, the Great Awakening still had a deep impact on colonial society. Primarily, the conflict that arose between the religious revivalists and ultimately ended in a split in the evangelical group changed the face of religion in the British colonies. The New Light revivalists spawned such denominations as Baptist and Methodist, which differed in the old lights beliefs in doctrine and matters of faith. These new sects resulted in a stronger tolerance toward religious diversity. Also, because revivalists preached mainly to backcountry people who had no religious affiliation, the emphasis on emotion rather than wisdom gave less-educated people a feeling of self-worth. These new freethinking converts gained the strength to begin questioning social and political order. The movements of the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening mainly produced a new mode of thought for American colonists.
Free will is a problem that has been occupying the minds of many philosophers. The classical debate is whether we have free will or we are determined and therefore free will in an illusion. There are many views that philosophers have brought to the table in order to tackle this debate. Some of which are determinism, libertarianism, and compatibilism. Harry Frankfurt’s general intake on the debate is that free will is not about having the ability to do otherwise. Instead, free will is about having the ability to make judgements about our desires. The purpose of this paper is to expound and asses Harry Frankfurt’s semi-compatibilist view, his concept of a person, and how it relates to the freedom of the will.
Various views on free will have been developed since then. The three that I will mention in this essay are Libertarianism, Hard Determinism and Compatibilism. Libertarians believe each individual should look to enhance their lives through the use of free will or the freedom of choice. On the contrary, Hard determinism argues that free will is impossible. Proponents of this ideology
Free will on the other hand is not engineered. It speaks to the concept of having full authority over one's aspirations and ultimate direction. The key there is "ultimate." The gods can make up the plan and choose the path, but the people had to walk it. Therefore, fate and free will are not mutually exclusive and they both go on throughout The Odyssey.
The presence of free will, on the other hand, was not a manufactured thing. It was the idea of having complete control over one’s own actions and decisions. They believed the gods made up the way to go, but you as a person always had the choice to follow it. So we see that free will and fate can occur at the same time and do so through the entirety of The Odyssey. The Odyssey often demonstrates that your life is your own responsibility. Instead of leaving everything up to fate, the characters had an important effect upon their own lives.
When discussing the fate of Aeneas, a thought provoking question is posed that is commonly debated. If Aeneas is commanded by fate, does he have free will? It is important to approach this question with a solid understand of fate. There are two common sides to the debate of whether Aeneas had free will or not. One view believes Aeneas had no choice but to follow his destiny because he was commanded by fate, and prophesied to found the race that will one day build Rome. The other side states Aeneas did indeed have free will, and even though his fate was set, room is available within his fate for events to change. One can argue Aeneas makes some of his own choices, but no particular detail of his life is untouched. Destiny determines that the Trojans will found a city in Italy, but it does not stipulate how that will happen. This is where room is left for free will. After much research and considering the views of many commentators and the proof they showed, the answer can simply be found by going back to the text of The Aeneid.
In English literature and Greek mythologies fate and free will played colossal responsibilities in creating the characters in the legendary stories and plays. The Greek gods believed in fate and interventions, predictions of a life of an individual before and after birth which the individual has no control over their own destiny. Free will and fate comingle together, this is where a person can choose his own fate, choose his own destiny by the choices the individual will make in their lifetime. According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the definition of free will is the “freedom of humans to make choices that are not determined by prior cause of divine intervention”. Fate and the gods who chose their destinies directed Gilgamesh, Oedipus and Achilles.
The first matter to be noted is that this view is in no way in contradiction to science. Free will is a natural phenomenon, something that emerged in nature with the emergence of human beings, with their kinds of minds, minds that can think and be aware of their own thinking.
Free will is commonly believed to be an issue of common sense. For example, someone may argue that they chose what they are wearing today and therefore posses free will. It does not occur to them that some other factor could have influenced them to think in that manner, essentially meaning that their decision was pre-determined. Free will may give you a choice, but you would have never had that option if not for a determined factor from the surrounding society or environment. What people fail to realize is that determinism does not strictly mean that there exists a rule book of every event that has taken place or will take place in the future. Determinism also does not mean that the future is in the hands of a “creator” who is simply following a “plan”. Instead, determinism can be viewed as something that happens subconsciously, or even at an anatomic level.
Hence, destiny is a type of “Divine Knowledge.” “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” (Jeremiah 29:11, KJV) Scripture further clarifies that God is in control of each individual’s life from the time of inception in the womb.