Essays on Soft Determinism

Exposition of competing positions:

Hard determinism argues that due to the fact that determinism is true, and there can be no choices that result in any specific outcome for the individual, there is no need to engage in moral discourse. The idea that all things are the result of abstract causes that cannot be effected in any way presents the idea that there is no need to assess the consequences of action. This is due to the fact that a person’s nature is primarily determined by their ultimate destiny. The principle of free will does not exist therefore, due to the fact ...

Free Will and Determinism: A Response to the Problem from the Perspective of Three Philosophical Positions

The concept of free will has been essential in religion and philosophy, but this concept has been opposed to a new one, namely determinism, which is the result of years of scientific progress and the discovery of natural laws. Free will represents the capacity to act independently, or to take decisions based on personal wish, regardless of the pressures one is subject to. On the other hand, determinism is based on the idea that all actions performed by human beings are determined by natural laws and different causal factors, and in fact there is no free will. This idea ...

The notion "freedom" has many meanings, each of which applies to a particular sphere of life of the individual. Solving the problem of freedom is impossible without an understanding of the specifics of these values, and without disclosing the inner relationship of liberties. Most of all, to speak of freedom, it is possible to speak about two of its basic values. Speaking about free will, there is a possibility not to hesitate to define their internal desires, aspirations, and the second value is freedom of action, that is, the absence of obstacles to the implementation of the desired action. ...

Assignment Title

Free Will and Determinism Are human actions and behavior predetermined or are they self-caused by will? The debate about to what extent humans are free in making decisions and proceeding with their lives was one of the central problems of philosophy since its emergence. Many bright minds pondered on this problem offering different decisions to it. But what is the whole debate about? It would not be so important and acute if the problem stood by itself. However, the consequences of the decision to this issue strongly influence other questions and fields of philosophy. Particularly, the strongest implications are ...

Two stories from the crime pages in Florida make the mind roil in terms of their ethical consideration, but they also raise some interesting questions about the role that fate and free will combine to play in our lives. The first is the story of Casey Anthony. Even though a jury acquitted her of the charge of murder, the preponderance of the evidence, at least to many, indicated that she more than likely used duct tape to suffocate her daughter and then dumped the body somewhere where it took a repairman weeks to find it. The second is the ...

People will think of other people on the basis of the work they do at free-will. However, it is not an ideal treatment for people to blame other people for what they are forced to do. Freedom is compatible with determinism when the behaviour of a person is caused by the preceding factors. Therefore, the causal laws of determinism end up forming the basis of science. Freedom to perform an act is the idea that human beings have the ability to have choices in how they act and taking the assumption that they have the freedom in terms of ...