Samantha Marie Dexter (J15019130), Loi Su Wen (J15018082), Low Ker Ann (J15018078), Low Yi Chean (J15019103), Ng Yew Ming (J15019456). Mr. Adriel Wong PHL3100 20 July 2017 An Ethical Analysis of “Minority Report” Does John Anderton have freedom of will, the ability to make free choices despite the influences of his heredity or his environment? Does anybody? What does it matter for the criminal justice system, whether or not we have the capacity to choose our actions freely? Explain. The ethical theory in this question has to do with freedom and determinism. Are the people in this movie totally free or are they totally determined? Or is it a matter of the degree of freedom and determinism. It is important to answer these questions first before …show more content…
It is impossible and illogical to hold people to different standards of freedom and determinism. These are metaphysical aspects. They concern the nature of reality and reality is not so fickle as to apply different standards of truth to different people. Due to this, everybody has limited freedom. Fate, environment, character, religion, and so on formed throughout a person’s life would cause a limited number of possibilities to be open for that person. However, people have the power to choose which among these possibilities they will follow. The choice may be subconscious, but a choice is still being made. To sum up, the roads a person can take may have been chosen for him or her, but the road the person actually takes is totally up to that person. Even Lamar Burgess had a choice in the end. The Pre-Cogs showed him the path of killing John and John himself showed him the path of not killing John. However, Lamar saw a third path, one where he could escape everything and made the choice to follow it. The existence of alternatives, however limited, means the existence of choice. And that is the very essence of soft …show more content…
Guilt and innocence only matter if someone has the ability to stop themselves from carrying out their desires. If life has determined a person to make that choice no matter what, then how can anyone blame another person or find them guilty of that act? Society can disagree with their actions, but society cannot blame them for it. Basically, a criminal justice system in a society with no free will would be redundant. It would be an illusion of justice. In contrast, as long as people have some choice, some limited freedom, then yes, they can be judged and found guilty and innocent. This is because having a choice means having responsibility and if a person has failed in that responsibility, then he or she is