Essay Free Will
“Free Will” appears as a reality or an illusion.
“Free Will” takes one of the central questions of any religious realm. Whether a human has a freedom in his choice? Whether a human can make a personal, independent decision such us what he should do in each situation? Or are all of his actions predetermined, and the possibility of making a free choice an illusion? Since the time of the Greek philosopher Socrates to modern times, philosophers, theologians, scientists have tried to prove the existence of “Free Will” or its absence, and as well have to answer to the question do people have real control over their actions?
The question, about existence of “Free Will”, appeared in ancient Greek philosophy. Socrates and his followers believed that the dependence of the lower sensual impulse is an equivalent to slavery, but responsible subordination which was inspired by human mind, means a “Free Will”. Socrates argued that all humans are looking for the good behavior, but not all equally know what good behavior is. If a person really knows what the true goodness is, then this person wants to do it, but one, who doesn't know, usually takes imaginary goodness instead of real goodness. Then rushes to reach the imaginary goodness and makes mistakes.
This then produces evil deeds. No one is willing to be bad on their own will. This way, moral evil reduced to thoughtlessness, that equal to a lower needs level, and goodness for Socrates, according to Aristotle, expresses of the intellect, which is an equivalent to a “Free Will”. Which means, only human who doing good things can have “Free Will”. Based on the foregoing, it is possible to make a conclusion, that by the term “Free Will”, Socrates understands the qualities that exceptional people have, rather than an integral part of every human being.
The idea of “Free Will” gets a new interpretation with the development of Christianity. If we trace the history of “Free Will” in the Bible, it is necessary to start
“Free Will” takes one of the central questions of any religious realm. Whether a human has a freedom in his choice? Whether a human can make a personal, independent decision such us what he should do in each situation? Or are all of his actions predetermined, and the possibility of making a free choice an illusion? Since the time of the Greek philosopher Socrates to modern times, philosophers, theologians, scientists have tried to prove the existence of “Free Will” or its absence, and as well have to answer to the question do people have real control over their actions?
The question, about existence of “Free Will”, appeared in ancient Greek philosophy. Socrates and his followers believed that the dependence of the lower sensual impulse is an equivalent to slavery, but responsible subordination which was inspired by human mind, means a “Free Will”. Socrates argued that all humans are looking for the good behavior, but not all equally know what good behavior is. If a person really knows what the true goodness is, then this person wants to do it, but one, who doesn't know, usually takes imaginary goodness instead of real goodness. Then rushes to reach the imaginary goodness and makes mistakes.
This then produces evil deeds. No one is willing to be bad on their own will. This way, moral evil reduced to thoughtlessness, that equal to a lower needs level, and goodness for Socrates, according to Aristotle, expresses of the intellect, which is an equivalent to a “Free Will”. Which means, only human who doing good things can have “Free Will”. Based on the foregoing, it is possible to make a conclusion, that by the term “Free Will”, Socrates understands the qualities that exceptional people have, rather than an integral part of every human being.
The idea of “Free Will” gets a new interpretation with the development of Christianity. If we trace the history of “Free Will” in the Bible, it is necessary to start