Free will
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- Not to be confused with making your Last Will and Testament for free.
Free will is the philosophical concept that a person has control over their own actions, regardless of external influences and pressures. In conflict with the concept of "free will" is the concept of "cause and effect". Unlike free will, cause and effect takes into consideration external influences upon an individual's supposedly free decisions. The philosophical position that rejects free will completely is called determinism.
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[edit] The free will wager
This is similar in structure to Pascal's wager, but more logically sound.
- If you assume you have free will, and you do, then you can use it to direct your life; thus a huge gain.
- If you assume you don't have free will, and you do, then you are wasting the only thing over which you have any choice; thus a huge loss.
- If you assume you have free will, and you don't, there is no loss or gain since you had no choice in the matter.
- If you assume you don't have free will, and you don't, there is no loss or gain since you had no choice in the matter.
Therefore regardless of whether free will exists or not, you should live based on the assumption that you do have free will and that your choices do matter.
[edit] Person X and Person Y
It is often useful to employ hypothetical Person X, Y and Z when attempting to explain the ramifications of philosophical concepts. As Person Z is currently pondering the meaning of life in the fourth dimension, Persons X and Y shall be employed to great effect in an attempt to explain the differences between someone who believes in free will and someone who believes in determinism.
Person X and Person Y each drink a pint of beer. Whilst Person X (who believes in the concept of free will) chooses to go to the toilet approximately fifteen minutes after consuming their pint of beer, Person Y (who is a determinist) considers that they had no real choice to empty their bladder, as it was an inevitable consequence of drinking beer.
Person X may argue that Person Y chose to drink the beer and therefore indirectly chose to relieve their bladder, but Person Y insists that they consume beer to alleviate woes bought on by external influences in their working environment.
Person X may argue that Person Y chose to work, and therefore indirectly chose to become worried with work-related issues, but Person Y insists that they did not choose to work; they had to work as a result of needing to meet the financial requirements of their family.
Person X may argue that Person Y chose to have a family and therefore indirectly chose to work in order to support it, but Person Y insists that they did not choose the faulty protection when copulating with their partner, and that their young family was essentially unplanned...
[edit] Several months of discussion, and many beers later
... and so the argument between Person X and Person Y goes on until they reach the very first cause in the universe. Some people call this the Big Bang, some call it God, and still others ask "what caused this big bang, or God?" Some smart philosophical people often refer to the beginning of the universe, or the cause of the Big Bang, as the "uncaused cause". People who believe in the concept of free will often point to this event as an example of the illogical nature of determinism, ignoring the insistence made by Person Y that determinism is far too complex to be debunked in such a manner.
[edit] A knotty thread
In order for true free will to exist, there must be some "first cause" generator in each creature claimed to have the trait. This aspect of the creature must be independent of external causality, which forces us into an acceptance of dualism. If we are to reject this, and become determinists, we must somehow reconcile our position with the widely held observation that humans do indeed think they make decisions, at least some of the time, independently of external causes.
Interestingly, even a strict determinist will not make the claim that every event in the universe is predictable and "set in stone" - the discovery of random physical processes, and physical traits that cannot both be defined at the same time, has shown us this.
[edit] Christianity
Most branches of Christianity teach that people have free will, although apparently on occasion God overrides it in order for events to play out according to His script. However, other groups of Christians, especially Calvinists and other Reformed churches, further believe that God chooses who will be saved and who will be damned. This is called predestination, and means that those who have been chosen for damnation cannot exercise free will in order to become "saved".
In a literalist interpretation, Romans 9:18-21[1] can be seen as supporting predestination:
| “ | 9:18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. 9:19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? 9:20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? | ” |
This arbitrary action is considered divine justice and divine love.
