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Do people have free will
The document discusses whether free will exists or if human decisions are predetermined. It presents different philosophical views on dualism, materialism, and idealism regarding the relationship between mind and body. Several philosophers are discussed who had differing opinions on free will, including Thomas Hobbes believing free will exists through reasoning, Benedict de Spinoza believing free will is an illusion and all is predetermined, and Rene Descartes arguing free will exists through the separation of mind and body. The document concludes that there is such a thing as free will, as seen through actions and reactions, though God's omniscience allows foreseeing decisions as the first example was Adam and Eve's choice in the garden.
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Do people have free will
- 1. Do People HaveFree Will? April Adams Philosophy 105
- 2. Free Will OrPredetermined? As a child I was told by my parents that everyone has free will that God does exist and is all knowing but He gave us free will to make our own choices. As I have grown older I have wondered if that was true. If God is all knowing and is already aware of what decisions human beings will make before they make them, is that free will? How can an outcome already be known if the decision has yet to be made? Is what people call free will pre-determined or reactionary?
- 3. Dualism This view holdsthat what exists is either physical or mental (“spiritual”); some things, such as a human person, have both a physical component (a physical body) and a mental component (a mind).
- 4. Materialism (or physicalism) Thisview holds that only the physical exists. Accordingly, so-called mental things are in some sense manifestations of an underlying physical reality. (Not to be confused metaphysical materialism with the doctrine that the most important thing is to live comfortably and acquire wealth.)
- 5. Idealism This view holdsthat only the mental (or “spiritual”) exists. Accordingly, so- called physical things are in some sense manifestations of the mind or of thought.
- 6. Thomas Hobbes • (1588-1679)viewed perception or sense as a precipice to thinking. Because a human being is able to reason and therefore decide, this is a form of free will.
- 7. Olivia Sabuco deNantes • (1562-?) believed that” the properties of the mind are not physical properties” therefore, the soul “governs the affects, movements and actions of humans”. She argued that the connection between body and soul occurs throughout the brain.
- 8. Rene Descartes (1596-1650) felthe established metaphysical dualism. He figured that because the “mind is not in space and doesn’t move, is not subject to physical laws, therefore it is free” and thus allows humans to have free will.
- 9. Benedict de Spinoza 1632-1677)felt that “free will was an illusion”. He felt that all things were controlled or predetermined by the Laws of Physics and everything that has happened and will happen is determined by what has already happened beforehand.
- 10. Anne Finch, TheViscountess Conway(Anne Conway) (1631-1679) believed that God has always existed and because God created everything, everything is God’s property. Since it could not exist without God, there must not be free will. It is the will of God.
- 11. Gottfried Wilhelm, Baronvon Leibniz (1646–1716) There is a sufficient reason for every occurrence, it follows that there is something outside the series of events that is its own sufficient reason. This “something outside,” is God. God is a sufficient reason for God’s own existence, God is a necessary being, therefore nothing exists without God.
- 12. Free Will vs.Pre-determined? •There is in my opinion such a thing as Free Will. •Just as there are actions and reactions, such is the same to free will. God, being omnipotent sees all. •The first time free will was exhibited on record was in the story of Adams and Eve.
- 13. References • Bruder, K.,& Moore, B. N. (2008). Philosophy: The power of ideas (7th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education. • All Pictures by Google Images
Editor's Notes
- #3 Some philosophers believe that God or the Supreme Being is outside of the reality that human beings dwell in and because of that, He or She is already aware of the choices we make prior to conceiving the notion or attempting the action, but because we human beings are not omnipotent, we are still capable of free will. God only knows a head of time which decision or action we will take and the outcome or result. Other philosophers argue that If God is all knowing and knows which choice or action beforehand, then human beings do not truly have free will. Even still, there are select philosophers who argue that heredity and environment dictate what choices we will make. According to them, our genetic makeup determines what we choose or do. There is also the view that human beings are “nothing more than bodies, moving in reaction to immaterial forces” (Moore & Bruder 2008 p.121)
- #4 (Moore & Bruder 2008 p.105)
- #5 (Moore & Bruder 2008 p.105)
- #6 (Moore & Bruder 2008 p.105)
- #7 Hobbes was the first great modern materialist. He argued that all that exists is bodies in motion. Because perception or sense were precursors to ideas, it cannot be God but human beings that decides their fate thus creating free will. (Moore & Bruder 2008 p.114-115, 136)
- #8 Olivia Sabuco de Nantes argued that proposed that the connection between body and soul occurs throughout the brain, thus is human and not from God. (Moore & Bruder 2008 p. 115, 135)
- #9 Though he was a Catholic, Descartes believed there were things that could be determined by the power of the Church.(Moore & Bruder 2008 p. 107, 113)
- #10 A philosopher named Benedictus de Spinoza, for example, felt that “free will was an illusion” (Moore & Bruder 2008 p. 118). Spinoza surmised that whatever happened to humans or in was due to “the nature of substance” (Moore & Bruder 2008 p. 118). Spinoza felt that free will had nothing to do with what was going to happen and all material things were controlled by the Laws of Physics and everything that happens was determined by what had happened beforehand (Moore & Bruder 2008 p. 118). Spinoza theorized that mental thoughts and matter were all in one and whatever one thinks is to be expected in the body. (Moore & Bruder 2008 p. 118)
- #11 According to Moore and Bruder (2008) Anne Conway argued against parts of the philosophies of Descartes, Hobbes, and Spinoza. An essentialist who argued that everything other than God has both physical and mental essences—God is totally mental (Moore & Bruder 2008 p. 116)
- #12 According to Moore and Bruder Leibniz argued that because something has occurred or is occurring leads one to believe in a necessary Being or God.(2008)(Moore & Bruder 2008 p. 437-438)
- #13 Completing this course only reinforced my initial belief. The different philosophies I have read for and against free will were valid on both sides and I have found that my belief falls directly in the middle of the pros and cons. I am a believer in free will. I believe that all human beings have free will. I believe there is a God but he gives us choices. He knows the outcome of whichever path we choose however; it is up to humans to choose which way they will go. It is my belief that with this free will comes consequences, some good and some not so good. Only God knows the outcome of whatever path humans’ choose to walk down; it is up to them to make the decision to choose which way to go and they must be prepared to live or die by the choice they have made.