Jordan Cernek
PH 180 – Williams
March 28, 2009
Essay #2
Determined Free-Will
Do we, as humans, have the power to make our own choices? Or are our choices
determined already in advance for us? The argument for determinism and free-will can be
divided into three subgroups: 1) hard determinism, 2) soft determinism, and 3) libertarianism.
Hard determinism states that determinism is true and there is no free-will. Soft determinism, or
compatibilism, states that determinism is true and there is free-will. Libertarianism states that
there is free-will and no determinism. Baron d’Holbach is the major supporter for determinism,
while Corliss Lamont and William James are the main free-will supporters. For the sake of this
paper, soft determinism, which I believe, will be compared to hard determinism and
libertarianism.
Soft determinism, as was mentioned earlier, is the belief that determinism is true to a
certain extent while free-will allows us to make choices based off the choices that were already
made in the past.
What I mean by that is that our moral basis, our mentality, and our
psychological minds are all formed by past experiences which make us who we are, thus we
make our choices based on the past experiences we have had. For example, if as a child a boy
grows up with a parent who is angry and critical with no care for morals, that boy’s morality and
mentality that he gained through his childhood experience will affect his decision making. If we
were to stereotype this boy, we might say that he would be shy and keep to himself due to the
verbal abuse he had suffered at home.
Although people have the free-will to make decisions and choices based off of our
previous experiences, I believe that some things are determined. Many physical aspects of our
bodies are predetermined, I believe. People today have the same basic makeup as that of the first
humans: Adam and Eve. The same goes with animals, plants, and other living organisms.
Genetics were first predetermined by God, The Creator, in Adam and Eve. Over time, certain
genes fade out, due to the dominant and recessive traits found in the chromosomes.
Our
personalities are also something I believe we are born with; that we are predetermined to act a
certain way, but only in the shallow case of our personalities. The Bible says that God knit us
together in our mother’s womb and that He knew us before we were even born (Psalm 139).
Hard determinism, on the other hand, states that determinism is totally true and that there
is no such thing as free-will. d’Holbach is a supporter of this belief. Hard determinism states
that, 1) determinism is true; 2) if determinism is true, then people have no free-will; 3) therefore,
people have no free-will.
First, let’s look at what the Bible tells us about determinism
(predestination) in regards to the Christian faith. Romans 8:29 says, “For those God foreknew
He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son….” Some people see this verse
as meaning that God totally predetermines who He is going to allow into Heaven; who He is
going to choose will be able to accept His grace. I find this to be very contradictory. John 3:16,
for instance, says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever
believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” Basically, God knows all things,
including the future. He also knows who will follow Him, so, in a way He does call us and
choose us.
He calls us to life in Him, but only those who choose Him will be saved.
Predestination is pointless to argue about because God knows better than us who He
“predestines”, or who He knows in the future will follow Him. To say that someone can never
be saved because of predestination is to contradict the Bible, as I have already said before. Hard
determinism, therefore, cannot be true. God chooses us all, and desires us all, to accept His
grace; in a sense, choosing Him, just as He has already chosen us. Overall, hard determinism is
flawed in many ways.
Libertarianism, or indeterminism, states that: 1) we have free-will; 2) if we have free-will
then determinism is false; 3) therefore, determinism is false. James, a supporter of this view,
would say that not everything that happens is caused to happen. Quantum physics, for instance,
has proven that sometimes electrons jump orbit without an apparent cause. Scientists say that
there are occasional chance events, as proven in the arena of quantum physics. At first, this
scientific example may appear to be in support of the libertarian view, but if one looks closely at
it, it is actually proving that both determinism and free-will are true. This example says that only
sometimes do these chance events happen; but what about the other percent of the time? One
would have to agree that there is some aspect of determinism regarding the laws of science that
make the electrons stay in their normal orbit the other percent of the time. There must be some
governing, determining force behind the basic laws of our solar system, then, for instance.
Finally, as we have just established the fact that there are some things that are
determined, such as physical traits and the laws of science, there are also things that are in favor
of the idea of freedom of will. The ideas of regret, refrain, and self-restraint need free-will in
order to survive. There is no regret in determinism because there is no choice. Therefore, freewill, as the opposite of determinism, must exist since regret exists. The same goes with refrain
and self-restraint; without the ability to make choices, these ideas would be non-existent. Since
they do exist, however, one can infer that we do have free-will. Perhaps a stronger argument for
free-will is that of moral responsibility. “Free will is understood as a necessary condition of
moral responsibility since it would seem unreasonable to say of a person that she deserves blame
and punishment for her conduct if it turned out that she was not at any point in time in control of
it” (Michael McKenna).
Once again, there are no choices for moral responsibility in
determinism, for everything is already determined, even our actions.
In conclusion, although I almost talked myself out of my initial belief in soft
determinism, I have come to believe through evidence and logic that there is a balance between
determinism and free-will. Together, they work together to allow us to make moral choices
based on our past experiences along with God’s overall plan for our lives.
Bibliography
McKenna, Michael (April 26, 2004). Compatibilism. Retrieved March 30, 2009, from Stanford
Encylopedia of Philosophy Web site: http://plato.stanford.edu.