Brittany Burkhardt December 5, 2011 Determinism vs. Freewill Assignment 2 Topic: Freewill can never truly exist.

For every choice a person makes is influenced by previous experiences or their surroundings, this is the thesis of Universal Causation. Determinism will always play a role in the end result. Every action a person makes is influenced by a thought, even if one dose not recognizes it. People learn from experiences that say, hey that stoves hot! So they dont even have to think twice about touching a hot stove again because they know, it will burn them. Determinism is the reason why a person is who they are, and dose what they do (Kemerling). Objections: All humans are born with freewill. Not one person can take this away from another. People may influence the choices others make but in the end results that one person made that choice. There may be causation in ones life but a person is always held responsible for their actions. Freewill is freedom that people are born with, to decide what ever they like, on any matter. A person chooses their destiny, not their surroundings (Kemerling). Argument: Do humans really possess the ability to make free choices on their own or is this a common misconception to the everyday person? Libertarians and Determinists believe they have the answer. Libertarians believe that every person possess free will, the ability to make their own choices freely, while Determinist feel other wise. Determinists believe that all actions are a result of influences, whether they are previous causes, a persons genetic build or the people surrounding them. Both sides have strong arguments to prove their points, but which one is right? I believe that the Determinists are right and that all actions can be determined. Free will is the belief that one holds their own fate in their own hands, meaning that people make their own choices freely. This is seen when children

brought up in poor environments become successful or when children brought up in good environments become criminals and drug addicts. Libertarians would argue that these children had a free choice to pick which path to go down regardless of their home lives. That this is proven when they go against the familys up bring. Libertarians also believe that people are morally responsible for their actions because they made their free decision to commit crimes and etc. Choices are made uninfluenced and freely to the persons desirers. Though these may be sound examples as to why free will is among all people, determinism counter argues even stronger. The argument of children straying from their families is a good point for Libertarians to make. There is always a black sheep in the family but the real cause is not free will but determinism. Children can learn from example from parents who are drug addicts. They see how rough of a childhood they had and wish to provide a better one for their children someday. So their first move is to say no to drugs. Then there are examples of the opposite happening, when good families have rebellious teens that end up in jail or worse. One wonders why they choose this path of crime freely. In actuality these kids did not choose, they were pursued by peer pressure from friends to try drugs or felt too much pressure from their family to live up to their expectations, so they simply gave up. There are many factors that come into play that one would not initially think of in situations like these but there are many reasons and cause why a person ends up the way they do. This how a persons life

becomes determined and why Determinists are right. Because of this thought process, Determinists believe that people cannot be morally responsible for their actions because previous causes caused them to commit crimes against their will. An impoverished man starving for food steals an apple from a farmers market. Is he responsible for his crime? Determinists would say this poor man had no other choice but to steal or he would starve to death. This poverty stricken mans actions were determined and fueled by his starving body, not his own will. This view can be seen in many crimes committed. Even though Libertarians may believe a person has moral responsibility, there is always a motive to a crime, in other words a crime is always determined. Free will is just an illusion placed in ones mind, when actuality every move they make is an event resulting from influence. Libertarians may argue that one has free will because they can choose which ever path they like in life, when really a person was pushed down this path by many different influences. A person may be wired genetically a certain way or previous cause may send them another way, all in all any type of choice, even subconsciously is made based on influences that person received. From this idea Determinist also believe in contrast to Libertarians that humans cannot be held morally responsible for the crimes they may commit because they were committed against their will. In the end Determinism is truly the most logical and correct over the two sides, even if it may seem as a sad truth.

Citations

Kemerling, Garth. "A Dictionary of Philosophical Terms and Names." Philosophical Dictionary. Creative Commons Attributions, 12 November 2011.. Web. 18 Dec 2011.