Determinism Or Free Will?
Free will refers to the idea that every individual is free to act in whichever way he/she chooses without being forced or controlled by any other aspects. According to the concept of free will, every individual is responsible for their actions unless they are children or insane. The determinism approach argues that there is a cause for everything that happens; nothing happens just by chance. Some philosophers claim that determinism exists outside the individual while others say that it is internal. This essay will address the free will-determinism problem, whether individuals have free will or not, and whether people can be held responsible for their actions.
According to an article by John Tierney on the New York Times, titled "Do You Have …show more content…
He argued that all the desires and beliefs in human beings are caused based on things that are going on in the brain. People tend to be ignorant of the causes that result in the desires which eventually constitute the result. They always believe that they develop the desires on their own. Holbach thinks that there is always a cause for those desires. The strongest desires constitute the will and then it is the will the eventually produces our action (Holbach, …show more content…
J. Ayer tried to show that determinism can be true but people can still be held morally responsible because causal determinism is compatible with free will. His stand is not based on the fact that some actions are free while others are caused. His position of compatibilism is that all actions are caused, but some actions are also free. He claims that if we can ascribe free will to people, then we can as well hold them morally responsible. Most people feel like there is something constraining them; that they want to act in a certain way but there is something that is keeping them from doing it. They also feel compulsion; they don't want to do something, but somebody or something is forcing them to do it. Ayer claims that in the normal sense when these constraints and compulsions are removed, individuals can be considered to be acting out of their own free will. Therefore, free will is the absence of constraint or compulsion (Ayer, 1980).
Ayer puts forth his theory of compatibilism. It essentially argues that determinism and free will, and by extension moral responsibility, can coincide. As far as Ayer is concerned, so long as the causal chain leading to our actions can be explained, it is "sufficient for the postulate of determinism". Just as well, as long as we act free of the influence of any form of constraint, then we are considered to be acting freely. And since both cases are not mutually exclusive, Ayer argues that we can retain our sense
According to an article by John Tierney on the New York Times, titled "Do You Have …show more content…
He argued that all the desires and beliefs in human beings are caused based on things that are going on in the brain. People tend to be ignorant of the causes that result in the desires which eventually constitute the result. They always believe that they develop the desires on their own. Holbach thinks that there is always a cause for those desires. The strongest desires constitute the will and then it is the will the eventually produces our action (Holbach, …show more content…
J. Ayer tried to show that determinism can be true but people can still be held morally responsible because causal determinism is compatible with free will. His stand is not based on the fact that some actions are free while others are caused. His position of compatibilism is that all actions are caused, but some actions are also free. He claims that if we can ascribe free will to people, then we can as well hold them morally responsible. Most people feel like there is something constraining them; that they want to act in a certain way but there is something that is keeping them from doing it. They also feel compulsion; they don't want to do something, but somebody or something is forcing them to do it. Ayer claims that in the normal sense when these constraints and compulsions are removed, individuals can be considered to be acting out of their own free will. Therefore, free will is the absence of constraint or compulsion (Ayer, 1980).
Ayer puts forth his theory of compatibilism. It essentially argues that determinism and free will, and by extension moral responsibility, can coincide. As far as Ayer is concerned, so long as the causal chain leading to our actions can be explained, it is "sufficient for the postulate of determinism". Just as well, as long as we act free of the influence of any form of constraint, then we are considered to be acting freely. And since both cases are not mutually exclusive, Ayer argues that we can retain our sense