About Determinism Individual’s Free Will

The specific topic I will be discussing about is Free Will. Free Will is briefly described as the freedom of individuals to compose and generate choices that are strictly not determined by previous experiences. In short terms free will is conclusions individuals make that are directly a product of one’s actions, and not outside factors. If looked at from a global aspect the argument of free will revolves around human beings on a daily basis. Free Will Skepticism claims that no individual has free will, it is the denial of an individual to nassert a voluntary decision and or choice. Hard determinism on the other hand argues that the future is firmly fixed by the past, and that a fully determined future is conflicting with free will. (Philosophy Packet).

Determinism philosophy says that all of our event are pre determined. Using myself as an example, I was born into a muslim family in Europe/Asia (Turkey). A Determinist believes that I am very likely to grow up as a muslim because of my, geographic environment, and families religious beliefs. Basically Determinism looks at prior event and in the end says that your future is determined. When it comes to the future and the shaping of it the idea of libertarianism plays a big role. For example, two graduates of Pace University get there degree in accounting and also pass the CPA getting a proper license for there eligibility to legally work. Libertarianism philosophy believes that these two individuals can have vastly different outcomes in there life. For instance, one could become a janitor at an high school, and the other counterpart can become a CPA in a office in downtown Queens.

I chose this topic specifically because, free will is an action that human beings have interference with frequently. My main reason for choosing this topic, is that the argument can be vigrouse and strong on both sides either supporting free will and stating that individuals have free will, or opposed to this arguing that our future is fixed and that our actions and behaviors are strictly linked to external factors. One question that I always ask myself is that, If some events are predetermined from previous event how does that justify that all of our events and actions and pre determined? Personally I hold a strong view that we as human beings have free will and that even tho past experience can trigger our actions we have total control of ourselves and how to alter our actions. In this world no matter what we do good or bad we have an option to change. Determines opposes this and challenges the ideas that the future is already predetermined.

One of my good friends Ali grew up in a neighborhood where drug use was heavy. I knew Ali since I was a little kid, we met in preschool and are still friends till this day. Unfortunately he got caught up doing drugs such as Marijuana, and cocaine due to the influences he was around. I had to stop talking to him because he was getting very violent, and doing bad actions such as stealing from his parents to satisfy his drug needs. Long story short one day he questioned himself and his life and started to turn his whole activity around. This event influenced me to write about this topic because, it shows how an expected outcome can be irreversible with an individual’s own mind and actions can play an astonishing influence. I was influenced to write about Free will and compare it with the philosophical idea of determinism. The question “Do we have free will” had a very strong association with the situations I had encountered, witnessed, or took action in.

To research Free will and its counterpart opposing it Determinism I looked for some philosophy books relating to free will at the Ammerman campus and Eastern campus Library. At the eastern campus the book I picked up was Free Will by Joseph Keim Campbell. Campbell explained Free will by first giving an question to make the reader think about free will in depth. “Why care if free will skepticism is true?” “Why care whether anyone has free will” (J.Campbell 2). After giving a inside introduction towards free will Joseph goes more in depth. According to the author, “Our provisional view is that an agent has free will if and only his act are up to him”(J.Campbell 2). What Campbell is trying to conclude here is that if there are no outside factors influencing you to do something then you have free will. For instance if a student that is ordered to do community service forges a signature that he has completed it due to pressure from his parents.

My argument is that the philosophical theory of determinism is not true and individuals do have free will. I side with free will because the amount of limitations determinism place is too excessive and vivid. Determinism believes that whatever you do beforehand can be the cause of how your life yields. I personally believe that even though your previous experiences can have an impact on your turn out, individuals have free will on deciding the completion of their actions or events. The controversy I see in determinism is that if it were to be authentic and correct then no human being would be able to alter his or her actions. This would lead to individuals not being held morally responsible due to the determined outcome. Our own wisdom and intelligence says that we have the ability to adjust our actions by our own choice. For example a drug addict who got in trouble stealing money from his parents, can decide not to use drugs after probation and a rehab program.

After realizing what was done wrong, proper action can be taken after looking at past experiences. Our life is not determined by past event, if determinism were to be true then we would all be robots in my view. A determinist believes that our nature and presence is already proposed by previous events. If myself were to go back by past events then I wouldn’t be as successful as I am now compared to high school. In high school I didn’t have a job, I didn’t really care about school work and was ranked on the lower side of the academic standings. In College I have a job and am doing good in school with a current 3.8 GPA. What changed myself was getting a job which linked myself to manage my time and work efficiently since when working there is and mix up between hours. I remember my first semester at Suffolk my Macroeconomics teacher stated that “we have twenty four hours in a day and I make time for whats important”Nathan Ketsdever, a former academic coach and researcher states that, everything about civilization requires free will to exist every way you live your life points toward free will.” “ We need free will for justice, fairness, responsibility, ethics, and meaning and purpose.” (Ketsdever). Personally I believe that we as individuals are responsible for our own actions, even tho free will can be positive or negative towards us, as individuals making a choice with outside force is essential if you want to grow mentally in strength. Determinism in my view is a paradox and its whole ideas contradicts itself. In conclusion my argument wraps up on the idea that determinism is not true and individuals do have free will to alter their actions.

The conclusion that determinism is not true and individuals do have free will to alter their actions brings various questions. If free will was an illusion, and determinism were to be true then what would be the point of studying for an exam?. Why would someone spend a period of their time in there life to prepare for an event if the outcome is already determined? In life time is precious and this can be verified when someone has multiple tasks to do in a day, which leads to the separation of time allocated for each task. In support of determinism, determinist argue that our beforehand experience are a result of our action in the future and that free will in incompatible with free will. If a prior experience leads towards another event wouldn’t an individual have the option to change his or her response while they are leading toward that event?