Latoya Brown
HUP 101 Philosophy
Professor Albrecht
December 14, 2009
Synthesis
The Concept of Freedom has long perplexed Philosopher since days dating pass the age
of Socrates. Am I free? Is there such a thing as freedom? Are questions that seem to be at the
forefront of most philosophers mind and almost every Philosopher has explored the concept of
freedom. The study of freedom in philosophy has boiled down to four basic views, Determinism,
Compatibilism, Indeterminism, and finally Libertarianism. These views range from, believing
that human beings have absolutely no say in their freedom so essential has not the power to
choose freely, to the idea that we as human beings are the masters of our own faith and controls
every aspect of our life’s. By exploring these four basic Views of freedom I will determine my
view on human freedom, while allowing you the reader to be informed on the various views of
freedom.
Personal freedom is an illusion there is no such thing as human freedom; we are simply
the products of cause and effects. All events and human actions are brought about by previous
events in accordance with the Universal causal laws. Those are the views of thinkers like Baron
d’ Holbach a determinist; Holbach believes that factors outside of human control determine the
choices that we make. He is a core believer in the idea that human freedom is simply a construct
that human themselves create to hold on to the belief that there is freedom, the idea that we have
freedom is a lie that we convince ourselves to be true. Other determinist such as behavioral
Psychologists B.F. Skinner and John Stuart Mill, have similar believes such as, we are entirely
conditioning experiences that have molded us and determined our actions. The fundamental
principal of what determinism seems to lead me to conclude that it is a get out of jail free card.
deterministic views leads one to conclude that we are not to be held accountable for our actions
the idea that human nature, Psychological forces, social dynamics, and other factors leave no
room for freedom because we are controlled like puppets by factors surrounding our existence.
Drawing from this idea of being mere puppets, one can conclude that they are therefore not
responsible for their actions; so if one commits a crime of any sort it can be argued that they are
not responsible as John Stuart Mill did for two young men who senselessly killed another human
being. Their original sentence would be life but due to Mr. Mill’s moving determinist concept
that they were not responsible for their actions, the judge was lead to giving them a life
imprisonment sentence instead of the death penalty.
The next view of freedom is Compatibilism believed by many to be simply a soft
determinist stance. Compatabilist feel that all events and human actions are brought about by the
previous events in accordance with the universal laws, sounds a lot like determinism doesn’t it?
But the difference is this, Compatabilist feel that human actions are free if they are the result of
internal motivation, not the product of external influences. So what does that mean, it means as
W.T. Stace a determinist who believes in free will states, that we have a choice in the decisions
that we make, only if there is nothing in the outside world determining what we do, Let’s take for
example that a man or woman is lost in the dessert he or she has no food and no water and
although he or she is greatly in need of it, the individual cannot drink or eat because he or she is
not available so if and when they get out and drink water it is not there free will they need to
drink water and eat food or they will die in other words the threat of death is an external
constraint that prohibits freedom, now take the same situation where someone doesn’t eat not
because there is no food available but because they want to see change it is a completely
different situation the person has the ability to eat but they choose not to because of their own
personal beliefs not because they are not able to eat. This is the difference between
compatabilism and determinism the idea that when a choice is due purely to internal factors it is
free while if it is due to external factors it is not a free choice.
The third View on freedom indeterminism states, that some events including human
actions are not necessarily determined by previous events in accordance with the universal causal
laws meaning that freedom exists. The example that indeterminist use is that, should you find
yourself at a decision crossroads, reflecting on which course of action to take your choice is at
least potentially independent of any external or internal events. You choose which path to take,
and should this situation occur again you can choose another path the indeterminist conviction is
in the belief that you could choose otherwise. Indeterminists such as William James believe that
because we can believe in the concept of freedom, and because we try to improve ourselves
based on these concepts, freedom is a reality. Because the society we live in allows us to live our
lives as individuals who are free based on judgments of morality, religion, self improvement,
social improvement personal responsibility, and many others areas in which we are found in
conviction because it is believed that we can choose freely. I should add that the fourth and final
view on freedom Libertarianism is so closely associated with indeterminism that there is no need
to truly distinguish between the two both share the principle belief that because we feel remorse
and because we live in such a way that constantly lean to the belief that there is freedom then
there is no need to assume otherwise. Along with many other thinkers Jean Paul Sartre also
believe in human freedom he alongside William James are convinced that personal freedom is
real and that, we are capable of making free choices independent of any influencing factors
beyond our control. Freedom brings responsibility and it is the sense of responsibility that allows
individuals to feel purpose.
All views on freedom have compelling concepts that can sway the choices to either or. I
personally feel that I am a indeterminist I believe that human freedom exist to the extent where I
am responsible for all my actions should I tell a lie, or arrive late or even something as extreme
as kill a man I am ready to suffer the penalties because I believe that everyone has the ability to
make a decision without external and internal constraint. The ability to make free choices make
life worth living; if we lived in a box of illusion then nothing would be worth doing because it
would not be me doing anything it would be circumstances of Cause and effects. It might be the
fear of finding out that I have no free choice that points me to the indeterminist view, but I
strongly doubt that because, in my mind I feel that the idea of being a determinist constitute with
taking the easy way out determinist view leads no responsibility on the individual therefore there
would be no remorse in an utopian determinist society which would throw all moral values out
the window of society, and I am not one to believe that my actions should not be accounted for.