Do We Have Free Will - Essay Example

Do We Have Free Will? ‘Free will’ is mainly associated by choice to act in a certain way and not inothers at ones disposal. Therefore for free will to exist there is the need to have a variety of alternatives. There has been wide debate on what actually ‘free will’ is and whether people actually have it. The debate has many twists whereby well renowned philosophers engaged themselves in trying to uncover certain aspects related to ‘free will’ (Benjamin 551-64). Some argue that it is a concept that goes side by side with moral responsibility making the debate move towards one being responsible for their actions. However, it is important to appreciate that constraints are inherently with us that hinder ones choice and even the availability of options depending on factors like environment, rules and regulations, moral conscience among others. The subject of whether we actually have ‘free will’ shall be examined in this paper in the accounts of philosophers Rene Descartes, Immanuel Kant and David Hume. Rene Descartes and ‘free will’ Descartes is one philosopher who took the issue of ‘free will’ and expounded on it. He associates free will with freedom of choice where he states that one under this faculty has the ability to perform or not to perform certain actions in the fourth meditation (Melchert 238-351). Descartes also goes ahead to explain the concept of ‘will’ stating that it is so free in its nature and for that reason cannot be constrained. In lay man’s language free will is taken as the ability to make a choice. This in the extent of ability coincides with Descartes views and assertions. In Descartes’ philosophy freedom takes the centre stage and he extends this to the infinite theme. According to Melchert Descartes describes the freedom of will as one that is quite unlimited and through this a human are able to experience the manifestation of God (238-351). This emanates from the human ability to understand themselves in the realms of likeness to God and that they bear His image. Descartes takes on his debate to reflect that a human, being a thinking being is fundamentally an attribute of being free and that the thinking capacity and ability reflect the power endowed to a human. This goes to explain the manifestation of the free will in people out of them being free. He further asserts that the judgment faculty in man is a gift from God and through this develops the innate ability to make sound judgment on what to do or not to do. He claims that free will is infinite and that for one to make a choice on has to go through a judgmental process. He goes on to say that as long as ‘free will’ is God given its incorrect use is not His responsibility. Immanuel Kant and ‘free will’ Kant as a philosopher linked ‘free will’ to morality and stresses that morality would be meaningless if free will is not appreciated. There is also the appreciation of a human being rational thereby being able to make decisions that are out of judgments (Kant 98-122). Human is the only being exclusively is taken to have a will followed by the assertion that a human has freedom and acts out of reason alone. Kant is also seen to allow will not to be free. He further claims that this lack of freedom is only significant in the corresponding case where the same will has the ability to be free. Morality is taken to be pegged to reason and that reason depends on free will. Maintenance of free will determines that of morality which implies the interdependence of these terms both theoretically and in natural truth. Morality actually makes people act in a certain way and not in another and is therefore termed as moral law which is binding to all. Kant goes on to claim that this moral law in not a hypothetical imperative but a categorical one (Kant 98-122). Therefore, reason is seen to be bound by moral law where reason given an inclination to the will which makes one to act in a certain way. He says that rationality in a person implies that they have freedom and that will is determined internally by reason. He uses ‘ought’ and ‘can’ to explain the implication of rationality on morality in that: a will ‘can’ be rational considering that it ‘ought to’ be rational. Therefore, according to Kant, morality, rationality and free will are interconnected. David Hume and ‘free will’ Hume is taken to be a sceptic of theories that related to existence, religion cause and effect phenomena and many more (Jerry 104 – 34). However, he went ahead and tried to clear the air that engulfed much of the debate on many topics including freedom and morality. He suggested that determinism can be used to reconcile freedom and morality. Out of this contribution Hume developed a more comprehensive approach termed as compatibilism. Under this he aimed at proving that in the real sense the disagreements that existed on the bases of certain phenomena were baseless. He emphasised that the widespread debate on many philosophical issues was as a result of widespread misunderstanding. This he claimed was the same cause of debate on the subject of ‘free will’. According to Jerry Hume moves to explain this concept by coming up with definitions of liberty and of necessity based a great deal on the theory of causation (104 – 34). Motives are taken to give rise to their respective actions and choices. In discussing liberty Hume saw it to be more of the power for one to act or not to act and that this is in line with determinations of will. He further asserts that people act in certain ways because they have basically chosen to act that way. Hume says that ones motives determine their actions and therefore easy to deduce that for actions to be caused liberty has to be compatible. Causation being a metaphysical question underlying free will and necessity debate has not been the only issue as moral dimension is also involved. This revolves around the requirement for people to be responsible for their actions in a moral sense. Conclusion Philosophers have developed theories that try to explain free will and whether it exists and how it exists. Descartes, Kant and Hume all talk of free will and give determiners of it and how it comes about. Descartes asserts that making a choice is endowed to a person and to do so they have to use their judgment capacity. Kant on the other hand brings out the interconnection between rationality, morality and ‘free will’ where he states that one determines the other. Hume takes the debate and tries to definite terms to bring about understanding on the concept of free will using compatibilism approach in justifying his position. Works cited Benjamin, Libet. “Do We Have Free Will?” in Kane, ed., 2002. 551-64. Jerry, Fodor. Hume Variations. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003, 104 - 34. Kant, Immanuel. Critique of Pure Reason. Edited by Paul Guyer and Allen W. Wood. Translated by Paul Guyer and Allen W. Wood. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007. 98 122. Melchert, Norman. The Great Conversation: A Historical Introduction to Philosophy Volume I: Pre-Socratics Through Descartes. 5th edn. Oxford University Press, 2006. 238-351. Read More