ipl-logo

Difference Between Hard Determinism And Compatibilism

1001 Words5 Pages

Rabindra Bidari
Professor Geisler
PHIL 1301-23405
3 March 2018
Libertarianism, Hard Determinism, and Compatibilism
“Free Will” is one of the most discussed element in philosophy. Free will is an ability to act freely in any circumstances without influence of external power. Mostly discussed leading theories of free will are libertarianism, hard determinism and compatibilism. Libertarianism believes that some actions are free because we have the ability to control them. On the other hand, Hard Determinism believes that there are no free actions at all, and Compatibilism believes that there is free action when someone does what he wants to do.
Libertarianism believes in free actions because we have the ability to control some of these actions. …show more content…

According to Hard Determinism, every action is determined by external force. No one acts freely because no one has the ability to control their actions. Based on the materialist theory of hard determinism, universe is the combination of physical entity like atom and actions are the result of the combination of external force and the nature of laws. In determinist view, every action is determined by the external force plus the laws of nature, so there is a possibility to predict what will happen next. Moreover, hard determinism follows the theory of casual determinism that all actions are the consequences of past events plus the laws of nature. Since, the past events are experienced and the laws of nature are known, all actions that will occur in the future is predictable, or in fact known. Furthermore, we can’t make changes to the past events and we can’t control the laws of nature, all our actions are pre-determined therefore we don’t have free actions. Although we think we are acting freely, this is our illusion because we are ignoring the fact that action is driven by external force that we have no control. According to journal “Free Will: A Human, Fuzzy, Chaotic Process” the person can no longer rely upon his or her choices during decision making if the principle of cause and effect is violated or nullified then the person’s reasons for a choice and the choice itself is broken by external force hindering the free

Show More
Related

How Does Cresco Influence Criminal Behavior

1222 Words | 5 Pages

Free will is an expression used to describe a person perfectly capable of making his or her own decisions without the influences of antecedent conditions (notes, free will). In other words, Cresco did not have to lead the young man into the alley way and he did not have to stab him repeatedly because it was in his complete control if he did or did not. He acted freely. Many people believe in free will because not to believe in free will questions the very essence of the human being—questions whether a person as a self even

Read More

A Rhetorical Analysis Of Matt Ridley's Free Will

998 Words | 4 Pages

In this well-thought, extensive piece by Matt Ridley, Free Will starts off humorously with the demonstration of free will and takes us through the factors that influence it. “Society, culture and nurture.” Ridley says, are the factors and elaborates to the full extent of life as to do we have free will or not. Defending his claim that free will can be obtained against the host of critics and their sources, he analyzes and contradicts through his extensive knowledge, strong examples, and his own host of supporting credible people to shield his claim; his rhetorical strategies strongly support and defend his claim. To support the very first claim that he steps on to about the influences of free will, Ridley says, “ Everyone’s fate is determined

Read More

Examples Of Fate Over Free Will In Dante's Inferno

644 Words | 3 Pages

Destiny over Free will Free will is a term unheard of nowhere days because of how much the media portrays that we have to do what other people say such as politicians. Some people are destined to think that everything we say and do has already been written out in a script somewhere in heaven and that God already knows what we are going to do before we even do it. People do not possess free will but are governed by fate because in Dante's Inferno the people who were brought down to hell were brought down because they were destined to go down the wrong path and that's why they are in hell and there are special places for people whose fate was a little too heinous and they were forced to go in the middle of heaven and hell and sometimes other people are also destined to lead us to our fate such as Virgil in Dante's inferno. People do not possess free will but are governed by fate because we think we have a choice to change our decisions but what if

Read More

Chisholm's Human Freedom And The Self

1445 Words | 6 Pages

In "Human Freedom and the Self", Roderick Chisholm has taken a libertarian approach on the issue of free will and determinism. Libertarians believe that humans have free will and make a distinction that free will and determinism are incompatible. Chisholm has the same opinion. On the problem of human freedom, Chisholm thinks that “Human beings are responsible agents; but this fact appears to conflict with a deterministic view of human action (the view that every event that is involved in an act is caused by some other event); and it also appears to conflict with an indeterministic view of human action (the view that the act, or some event that is essential to the act, is not caused at all).”(Page 3). He does not agree that determinism or indeterminism

Read More

Thoreau On Civil Disobedience

1359 Words | 6 Pages

Libertarianism holds that since individual truth is significant for each one, then in a democratic society where the majority rules, there is always going to be a violation of the minority’s truth, and therefore they advocate that individuals should always stick up for themselves, even if their opinions are contrasted to the opinion that the majority holds. Moreover, Libertarianism promotes as little government intervention as possible, since they do not trust the idea that a powerful group will be allowed to determine what is right and what is wrong, and impose those beliefs on others. As long as one does not harm others, Libertarianists think people should live life the way they want to, according to their personal set of beliefs and

Read More

Compare And Contrast John Locke And Adam Smith

470 Words | 2 Pages

A philosopher named John Locke believed that people should be free to do what they want, but if their choices are poor, then they should be ready to face the consequences. In his justification, he asserts that “We must consider what state men are naturally in... a state of perfect freedom to order their actions and dispose

Read More

Macbeth Fate Vs Free Will Essay

905 Words | 4 Pages

Fate versus free will. Free will determines how people reach their destinies. This is shown in Macbeth by William Shakespeare through the characters actions. In the play Macbeth, lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s choices lead to their predetermined destinies. Free will controls most of the actions within the play, but fate still controls what happens in the end.

Read More

A Lesson Before Dying Literary Analysis

1233 Words | 5 Pages

Are we able to control our destiny or the outside forces? There are very good arguments about that but at the end of the day, I feel like we don’t control what happens to use in the future. Especially after I read the book, “A Lesson Before Dying”. Jefferson, the main character, was executed for something he didn't even do. He had a future and it was all gone due to what he couldn't control.

Read More

Fate In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

548 Words | 3 Pages

Failures and successes in life have led many people to believe that destiny plays a role in one's future life outcome. Some say destiny, the “hidden power believed to control what will happen in the future”, is unchangeable; fate has already decided how one will live their life. Although in some cases this may be true, one is able to change their destiny by the deeds and actions they commit during their lifetime. Many people disregard the idea that actions play a large role in forming one's future.

Read More

Compare And Contrast Utilitarianism And Libertarianism

214 Words | 1 Pages

Libertarianism is a political philosophy that said that the state should interfere as little as possible with people. Utilitarians, differ from Libertarianism, because are primarily concerned with the advocating for human provision of a minimal level of well being and social support for legal resident and citizens. They maintained that society ought to be systematically arranged in whatever way that would best reached this end potentially defend the vase and achieve greater social equality for the needy. Utilitarians think that the right thing to do is whatever produces the greatest amount of happiness.

Read More

Persuasive Speech Outline On Abortion

1277 Words | 6 Pages

“I believe the freedom to choose my course in life but I do not believe I am free to choose the consequences of my

Read More

Determinism Vs Free Will

1777 Words | 8 Pages

Taylor’s philosophy and view on determinism, free will and moral responsibility reflects the libertarian philosophic position. He attaches large importance to free will and free choice of a person. Taylor asserts that “certain events (namely, human choices) are not completely determined by preceding events; rather, they are caused by the agent of the choice (the person doing the choosing)” (Free Will). This view differs from that of Blatchford, Schlick and Hospers who deny free choice concluding that everything is determined in our decisions and actions.

Read More

Chronicle Of A Death Foretold Fate Analysis

1202 Words | 5 Pages

In order for free will free will to be tangible, an individual would have to have control over his or her actions regardless of any external factors. It can be argued that the inevitability of

Read More

Compatibilism, Determinism, Questions And Answers

1479 Words | 6 Pages

Compatibilists think that determinism is actually required to act freely, because if there were no causes and effects for a person to be connected to, their actions would become random, chaotic, and unpredictable and therefore their actions are not truly “free” since such

Read More

John Stuart Mill's View On Freedom: A Definition Of Freedom

1119 Words | 5 Pages

Being Free 1st draft Freedom is word used in a lot of contexts, but the official meaning of the word is “the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants” (Freedom). Meaning that you have the right to do something, with the focus being on you as an individual. This means no one can tell you what to do, like for example a state. This is an important aspect and part of political theory. Liberty is also used and viewed as the same category of theory, and has the definition “The state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one’s behavior or political views” (Liberty).

Read More

More about Difference Between Hard Determinism And Compatibilism

Related Topics

Open Document