I think this would fit more in the philosophy board. Theological determinism is the theory that all actions are predetermined by a deity or god(s) and that no action is "chosen" by any mortal being. This theory leads to the conclusion that humans are not endowed with free will. This idea has also been used in some cases to alleviate crimes because of the criminals excuse that "God told them to do it". This is not the only case of determinism, but it is the easiest to imagine. I'm going to stay out of the rest of this thread because I get enough of this in my philosophy classes and this particular subject makes my head hurt.
Free will is the prospect that a sentient being has the ability to control it's actions and decisions. In the case of humans, this would be whether or not we have the ability to make choices for ourselves. The theory most related to this is called indeterminism. By nature, we at best have a limited free will to an extent, every theory after that is just unprovable conjecture since humans do not have an awareness of their consciousness that they can be 100% certain of. Most of the discussions about free will are so metaphysical that after awhile they make your brain melt, like it has mine.
It means we have the ability to make choices. It means that we were not created to be automatons. The side-effect of this is that we therefore have a certain responsibility for our actions - something that really isn't in vogue at this point in history
It wouldn't. All discussions about free will, determinism, indeterminism, etc... are just debates that don't mean a thing to the average person. Whether or not you believe in free will will not change anything, except maybe your outlook on the world. Believing in free will will not make it a fact, just a belief. Here is my advice: If you are still seeking information about this, buy a book about it such as "Dummies Guide To Philosophy" or any other introductory books about it. You can also try resources like Google or Wikipedia, but I don't recommend them, often times the information is inaccurate or unreliable. There is literally libraries of information about this subject.
I do philosophy at school and have read about philosophy. I just feel that the debates on free will are really meaningless as there doesn't seem to be any real definition of free will.
I do agree with you on the point that there is almost no benefit to the debate on free will, that is one of the main reasons I try to stay away from the subject. But what you mean by "real definition"? I have already stated the main idea behind free will in my previous post.
Your definition was whether someone has the ability to choose their actions. That is too vague I think. What does it mean to choose?
I think you've been mislead here. How far into this subject have you studied? The fact that we think we have control over our action does not make it so. Let's say you decide you want ice cream. You go to the store and buy a pint of Ben and Jerry's and go back home and pig out. Was it truly your choice to go out and purchase the ice cream or were your actions determined by a being that you have no knowledge of and have no perception that you are being manipulated by this being? Because you cannot prove or disprove that there is a being controlling your actions, you can never know if you truly have free will. Just to add another example, you go to school every weekday. Is it your choice to go to school or is it your mothers/fathers? Since we already know that our free will is compromised from the day we are born, we can assume with certainty that we do not have absolute free will, but rather a limited sense of the word. Most of the debates going on currently are between whether this limited free will truly exists or whether we have no free will at all. But, once again, I don't particularly like this subject.
If I want to go to the shops and buy some ice cream and then do so, I would consider myself to be acting under free will. Are you supposing that there may be another being controlling my actions to correspond with my will, to create the illusion that it is me acting under my will? It is my choice to go to school. My parents my have influenced what my will is, but I still choose to go to school because I wish to; it is my will.
There is an invisible leprechaun on your left shoulder right this instant! You cannot feel it, see it, or sense it in ANY way. Can you prove or disprove this statement? No you cannot. These unprovable notions and ideas are what complicate the world. Since we may never know the answer to these, we cannot come to any conclusion and thus we need to consider their possibility, regardless of how ridiculous or fantastic. Fine, if you wish to scrutinize my rationing I have a question for you: Was it by your free will that you were conceived in your mother's womb? Furthermore, if you were to suddenly be taken hostage by a criminal and immobilized, was it by your free will that you came to be in that predicament? To outright claim that you have total free will and control of your environment is to act....well like my age. I'm done with this subject. This thread keeps digging up old and confusion memories.
This is my understanding of free will . . . (excuse my supplemental commentary on God) Free Will - The ability to make a choice or decision without any internal or external influence of any kind. Thus the "will" is "free" from all things. It would be to do something for simply no reason at all, like banning me on the banning forum, for no reason. This contradicts itself though as if you did something for no reason then well . . . you "did it for no reason" thus it has a reason. By my own opinion the only thing capable of having "free will" is God. By my definition of free will human beings do not have it. We always make one decision or another based on some external or internal factor which is why I would say we live in a deterministic world. Although I do believe we are in a deterministic existence I do not believe we are ever going to be capable of understanding it to the point of knowing what will happen (although we may get a glimpse or some sorts). I believe that there are infinite influences on each individual. This way of thinking also tends to go along with my own belief in God with the phrase "God knows all things." How does God know all things? Because existence is deterministic. I tied in God with this mess because True Axiom keeps commenting saying that arguments on Free Will are meaningless. I beg to differ. I don't think you can really accept what you are as a human being without the understanding that you do not have free will, you do things for a reason, and to understand what God is. This is by my own opinion though.
One argument against free will is that if everything in the universe is a cause and effect as science (at least at the beginning of the century) would have us believe, then we ourselves, including our brains, are just a complicated machine. We are affected in certain ways, then our body clicks along and is affected. Thus, any decision we make is simply an effect of the movement of atoms and waves in the world. We could no more choose to do something other than what we actually do, than a snooker ball can choose to remain still when struck by the cue.
I never said debating free will was meaningless, all I stated was that it had very little benefit. I know all about the "God" factor in this subject, I just didn't see the point of bringing it up. And please don't assume I've taken a stance on this subject, currently I am neutral by choice on all of this.
