Most philosophers suppose that the
concept of free will is very closely connected to the concept of moral
responsibility. Acting with free will, on such views, is just to satisfy the metaphysical requirement on being
responsible for one's action. (
Briefly, determinism is the view that the history
of the universe is fixed: everything that happens is necessitated by what has
already gone before, in such a way that nothing can happen otherwise than it
does.
According to compatibilists, freedom is compatible with determinism
because freedom is essentially just a matter of not being constrained or
hindered in certain ways when one acts or chooses. Suppose one is a normal
adult human being in normal circumstances. Then one is able to act and choose
freely.
No one is holding a gun to one’s head. One is not being threatened. One is not drugged, or in chains, (but one is always in relative chains) or subject to a psychological
compulsion or a post-hypnotic command. One is therefore
wholly free to choose and act even if one’s whole physical and psychological
makeup is entirely determined by things for which one is in no way ultimately
responsible—starting with one’s genetic inheritance and early upbringing.
But can you choose your parents, your resulting environment, your
educational chances, your genetic makeup, you being prone to heredity diseease
N0, NO, NO well then....do you have free will?
All our acts, even a smile can be traced back to a determining source and that determining source can be traced back to a d..... force ad infinitum
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