Examples Of Philosophical Determinism

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines philosophical determinism as “the belief that all events are caused by things that happened before them and that people have no real ability to make choices or control what happens; a theory or doctrine that acts of the will, occurrences in nature, or social or psychological phenomena are causally determined by preceding events or natural laws; a belief in predestination, the quality or state of being determined” (1). Does this mean that whatever action we make is a choice that doesn’t belong to us, but is rather a result of complex events that surround us? Do people have a right to justify some of their actions, and can be excused due to an idea that they do not act voluntarily?
Arthur Schopenhauer explained
The “principle of justice” itself is a law of the society we live in. In today’s world, every individual is born with various scenarios of what his or her life may become, and an individual starts to choose what he wants and needs for his/her scenario. It is like in a buffet, go and take what you want, but follow the rules. Nobody is allowed to steal from another plate, or kill in order to take somebody else’s plate, or take somebody’s plate by means of unlawful schemes and manipulation. People are still very unpredictable creatures. There are no strict laws that can predict human behavior without mistakes, like in math or physics. That is why people are responsible for the choices they make and can be punished for
Every idea gives some food for thought and analysis. Determinism is very interesting, as well as being a very complicated topic. I think, determinists fail to prove one hundred percent that “everything is predictable, including the process of making decisions, and that a decision does not occur as a first cause but rather as a result of the predetermined criteria for a specific decision to be made having been met.”(4) Still, there is a lot of truth in their point of view. Even though, scientists have made many sensational discoveries about the human body and brain, they are still far from knowing everything. Determinists can only try to explain some human behavior, but fail to establish correlation between cause and event. I won’t be surprised that one day scientists will be able to explain why some individuals become criminals, and will be able to prove that an individual with some genes is programmed to kill, steal, or abuse, and is therefore not responsible for his or her actions. As it hasn’t happened yet, the “principle of justice” must be applied to all individuals who break the