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8y Zaln-ull-Ablddln uanlyal
1he Lwo ldeas LhaL are ofLen argued ln rellglous debaLes and also ln more general phllosophlcal ones.
lreewlll ls Lhe ldea LhaL man chooses whaL hls acLlons and declslons wlll be. ueLermlnlsm ls, ln shorL,
Lhe compleLe opposlLe. Powever ln many cases, whlch we shall uncover, we come Lo undersLand
LhaL lL ls noL as easy Lo Lhlnk as l have deflned lL above.
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Cnce my frlend, whom l'm sLudylng wlLh, argued LhaL look people who do good works are only dolng
Lhem because Lhey wanL Lo end up ln heaven and hence Lhey are belng selflsh and Lhe people who
do bad works are dolng lL because lL makes Lhem happy, Lhey are saLlsfylng Lhelr ego and hence Lhey
are belng selflsh Loo. So whaL klnd of sysLem ls Lhls LhaL we geL punlshed or rewarded for belng
selflsh ln dlfferenL ways?
.)-$#"
8ellglous phllosophy resLs on Lhe ldea LhaL afLer an acLlon and before your reacLlon Lhere ls a fleld
where you can choose whaL your response should be. Anlmals are noL lnvesLed wlLh Lhls feaLure. lf
Lhey're hungry, Lhey know Lhey need Lo flnd food. Whereas, we, human belngs, have Lhls ablllLy Lo
choose whlch allows us Lo conLrol our response even when presenLed wlLh Lhe mosL bruLal dlsasLer.
1hls ls why fasLlng can be done. AlLhough our body Lells us Lo eaL, we lgnore Lhe sudden alarm. lL ls
Lhls whlch allows us Lo become beLLer human belngs by pracLlslng beLLer morals. LeL's call Lhls Lhe
freewlll of 8eacLlon.
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lL ls argued ln one phllosophy of freewlll LhaL we do noL choose where we are born, we do noL
choose our upbrlnglng, nor our nelghbourhood, nor Lhe weaLher nor Lhe people we grow up wlLh. ln
shorL we do noL have conLrol over many facLors LhaL come and shape us and deflne us. 1herefore,
we do noL have freewlll.
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WhaL one can derlve from Lhe phllosophy above ls LhaL Lhese facLors are Lrue wlLh everybody. no
one chooses Lhe clrcumsLances LhaL shape us. Powever for Lhls klnd of freewlll Lo be Lrue, one musL
belleve LhaL man ls and suppose Lo be a producL of hls clrcumsLances. Cnly a person who doesn'L
wanL Lo masLer Lhe arL of freewlll of reacLlon would adhere Lo such a Lhlng. A person who cannoL
choose how he should respond Lo slLuaLlons of llfe ls cerLalnly lnferlor Lo Lhe person who can conLrol
hls reacLlons. 1herefore, do we need Lhls freewlll?
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Pard deLermlnlsm sLaLes LhaL all Lhe evenLs are deLermlned by some prevlous cause. lL holds Lrue for
physlcal laws and ob[ecLs. Slnce we are parL of Lhe unlverse, our acLlons are also already deLermlned.
.)-$#"
1he unlverse ls a framework on whlch everyLhlng happens, lL ls Lrue we cannoL break Lhe laws of
naLure. Powever a specles wlLh consclousness can lnLeracL wlLh Lhe exlsLlng unlverse ln Lhe way lL
wanLs. Pow could a creaLlon wlLh consclousness be deLermlned ln Lhe same way as one wlLhouL
consclousness?
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Accordlng Lo SLanford Lncyclopaedla of hllosophy Causal ueLermlnlsm ls: Lhe ldea LhaL every evenL
ls necesslLaLed by anLecedenL evenLs and condlLlons LogeLher wlLh Lhe laws of naLure.
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Causal ueLermlnlsm doesn'L seem Lo conLradlcL Lhe freewlll of reacLlon. 1he reason for LhaL ls ln any
glven slLuaLlon we wlll have Lwo evenLs happenlng afLer one anoLher, Lhe second wlll be chosen ouL
of range of opLlons. 1hls way freewlll exlsLs wlLhouL a problem.
ln Lhe laws of naLure, lL lsn'L dlfferenL Lo hard deLermlnlsm however ln cases where consclousness ls
lnvolved, lL acLs dlfferenLly.
7 2 81* % - 9,)% -3% #)3#: ;1$ 3() 2"##$% & & <# =1--% <& #>
?es, lL's Lrue LhaL Cod has all knowledge of Lhlngs. Powever Lhls knowledge ls a predlcLlve klnd of
knowledge. lL's llke lf l'm ln a classroom and we're Lold Lo do some homework and someone uLLers a
commenL saylng l wlll noL do Lhe homework. 1he Leacher mlghL suspecL Lhe person who uLLered Lhe
commenL ls serlous and Lhlnk l mlghL noL do lL. So now lL ls ln Lhe knowledge of Lhe Leacher LhaL l wlll
noL do Lhe homework. Powever hls knowledge does noL force me Lo noL do Lhe homework.
AnoLher example: l'm slLLlng wlLh my dad, waLchlng news and l'm [usLlfylng some crlme. My dad
mlghL suspecL l mlghL become a crlmlnal ln Lhe fuLure. now lL's ln hls knowledge buL hls knowledge
doesn'L force me Lo do anyLhlng. lL ls hls llmlLed buL predlcLlve knowledge. 1he same ls Lrue wlLh
Cod, Lhe only dlfference ls LhaL my dad mlghL noL know many oLher Lhlngs and hls predlcLlve
knowledge mlghL be lncorrecL due Lo some facLors noL Laken lnLo accounL whereas Cod has Lhe
perfecL knowledge. !usL as my dad's knowledge mlghL change as he Lakes lnLo accounL some facLors,
Cod's knowledge can change due Lo Lhe acLlons of human belngs.
lL ls Lhe freewlll of reacLlon whlch human belngs have and lL ls Lhls LhaL makes us responslble.