If You Believe that You Have Free Will, where Do Your Choices Come From - Essay Example

If you believe that you have free will, where do your choices come from? If you believe that you do not have free will, do you believe that responsibility for actions should still exist? People do not have a free will. Choices come from a conscious shaped by memories and experiences. An individual’s will is influenced by these memories and experiences, thus the will is not free or uninfluenced. Individuals differ in experiences and memories, creating diverse conscious. Responsibility for actions should exist based on the ability of the individual. For example, a healthy individual that steals should spend time in jail. However, a mentally slow individual should have a punishment only if they understood the crime. This is an important topic for philosophy and criminal sciences. The free will debate has raged since Socrates. Criminal sentencing is debated in American courts everyday. The idea of responsibility should be imposed based on a person’s understanding of the offense. Without law and order, the world would be in ruins. Without a discussion of free will, responsibility would not be of any consequence. This makes free will an important topic for discussion. Free will can be discussed in various terms. Determinism is one term. Basically determinism is the idea the all future events are controlled by past and present events. Compatibilism is defined as a theory stating a mixture of both free will and determinism. Incompatibilism is the theory that free will can not exist within the concept of determinism. Various forms of determinism exist. The first is theological determinism. This is the theory of an all powerful God/gods/goddess that controls all of humankind like puppets. Since an all powerful deity is all knowing, the past, present, and future has already been written. Thus, free will cannot exist. The deity has already created every decision. In Calvinism, determinism is called predestination. Another term is biological determinism. This determinism states that an individual’s DNA and physical aspects control their destiny. For example, if David Beckham had been born predisposed to hemophilia, he would not have become a soccer star. If Bill Gates had been born without a high IQ, Microsoft would not exist. These examples are using biological determinism. Under this theory, humans only make decisions based on what their body or intellect can accomplish. I do not believe that there is total free will. Theological determinism does not appeal to me. I do not believe that God is too busy to control every aspect of every individual’s lives. I think memories and experiences are baggage that enslaves an individual’s will. It has nothing to do with a higher deity. A few examples would be a child that burns their hand will not stick their hand back in the fire. The child remembers the burn. When confronted by fire again, there is no compulsion to stick their hand in. That is not free will. The example shows how an experience and memory determine an action. I also think biological determinism is correct. Individuals with physical/mental gifts pursue careers and lifestyles that reflect them. On the other hand, people with physical/mental handicaps pursue careers and lifestyles open to them. This does not mean a worse career. FDR had polio. He became president over all odds. Sometimes a handicap gives an individual more strength. FDR might not have had the intelligence or strength without polio to become president. A child is born with a certain DNA that controls the future. There are several arguments for free will. The most compelling is the Christian theological theory supporting free will. There are a thousand different views on Christianity, but a simplified version will be given here. Jesus Christ died to save sinners from hell, thus allowing them to go to heaven. Some versions are Jesus died for all sinners, others only a select few. The goal is to get everyone to accept Jesus as their Savior in order to go to heaven. The thought is there must be a choice to accept Jesus. If God controlled every aspect, then a loving God would send everyone to heaven. The concept of heaven and hell suggests a choice. The implication of God choosing some individuals over others is incompatible with the teachings of Jesus Christ. There must be free will to choose God. Another argument for free will is from the legal standpoint. Charles Manson is the perfect example. Charles Manson had a troubled childhood. His mother was sixteen at his birth. He was arrested for the first time at the tender age of nine. By the time he was released for the last time, Manson had served over half his life in jail. It seems to be inevitable that he would be rearrested. However, society still punished him for his actions. If there is no free will, then Manson should walk the streets. American justice is not based on the concept of determinism. Free will makes criminals act criminally, so they must be punished. If determinism was accepted by American justice, people would not go to jail. In response to the Christianity theological argument for free will, my response would be no one knows the mind of God. God’s justice is not man’s justice. Religion and a higher power have never been proven by scientific fact. I am a Christian, but I do not buy into a puny human with free will choosing God. Humans are not that powerful. We have limitations. Those limitations are based on memories and experiences. American justice seems to back the claim of determinism to a limited extent. For example, a man with schizophrenia will be sent to a mental hospital. Factors can be presented during sentencing. Physical/mental handicaps are taken into consideration. An individual’s childhood is looked at. Spousal abuse and battered women syndrome can be used in a courtroom. These are all predisposed conditions that influence an individual’s actions. Memories and experiences influence every decision a person makes. For example, a woman that has been raped in a dark neighborhood will not go back to dark neighborhoods. It is like Pavlov’s dog. Positive reinforcement will influence the dog. If an individual finds money going one route on their way to work, they will continue to take that route. Negative and positive reinforcement influences individuals. Memories of a dog attack can cause an individual to avoid all dogs, or even only the breed that attacked them. A person’s memories and experiences bind them to determinism, not free will. I believe free will is a myth. A person never decides anything without memories or experiences. Each person is a creation of past and present events. These past and present events lead to the future. Everyone’s destiny is created daily, but not by free will. It is like a raindrop in a lake. The drop causes ripples that effect things far away from the original plop. Every event causes another event. Free will is just an illusion for people who want to delude themselves. Read More