Free Will and Determinism: A Deep Dive into Philosophical Theories

This essay delves into the philosophical theories of free will and determinism, exploring their definitions, compatibility, and implications for human action and moral responsibility. It discusses the concept of free will as the ability to choose among various courses of action, contrasting it with determinism, which posits that actions are predetermined by prior causes. The essay also examines compatibilism, the theory that free will and determinism can coexist. By considering metaphysical and scientific perspectives, the essay investigates whether humans possess free will, referencing psychological analyses from figures like Skinner, Freud, and Descartes. Ultimately, it concludes that free will and determinism are overlapping concepts that both exist within the human experience.

Running head: FREE WILL AND DETERMINISM
FREE WILL AND DETERMINISM
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Author Note

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The free will of the human beings refer to the philosophical theory that relates to the
ability of the concerned human beings to decide among the various possible courses of action
that might follow a certain activity. The determinism however refers to the philosophical theory
that states that the various actions of the concerned human beings are generally dependent on the
pre-existent causes of any given course of action. The concept of compatibilism states that the
concerned human beings might demonstrate the properties of having a free will while existing in
deterministic surroundings. The following essay deals with the various concepts that pertain to
free will and attempts to provide the concerned audience with the relationship that exists among
the concepts of free will and determinism. The essay nears its end with an attempt to discuss the
existence of the free will in the exercises that are performed by the concerned human beings.
What is free will?
The free will of the human beings refer to the philosophical theory that relates to the
ability of the concerned human beings to decide among the various possible courses of action
that might follow a certain activity. The free will is often known to be closely linked with the
various other concepts of guilt, praise, responsibility, sin as well as other such judgements that
might be put across as a result of the actions that have been freely chosen by the concerned
person. The free will might also be considered to have been connected with the concepts that
deal with the matters pertaining to the advices, deliberations, persuasions and prohibitions
(Bergson, 2014). It is a tradition to consider that the actions that deserve blame or credit are the
ones that have been dependent on the free will of the concerned person. The free will of the
concerned person further takes into consideration the moral responsibilities of the concerned
person. The various proponents of the concept of free will state that the moral responsibilities of
the given person might be responsible for the decision on the basis of which the concerned

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person might be termed to be either praiseworthy or blame worthy for the actions that they might
have been undertaking. The free will of a person might further be termed as an ability of the
person to make the choices the outcomes of which are not dependent on the various events that
might have taken place in the past times. The various activities that might be considered to be
resulting from the free will of the concerned human beings are the activities like jumping into a
water bodies, participating in races with other people and other such activities. The free will of a
certain person might also be dependent on the importance the person holds in the minds of the
concerned beholder. This might also be dependent on the various matters that are related to the
reactive attitudes that are expected by the people who have been surrounding the concerned
person in discussion.
Is free will compatible with determinism?
The determinism of the concerned human beings refers to the conditions that states that
the various actions of the concerned human beings are generally dependent on the pre-existent
causes of any given course of action. The various propounders of the free will state that the
concept of determinism precludes the concept of the free will in the matters that deal with the
concepts that state that the human beings might not be acting in the ways that are different than
those that have been selected for them. The theory of determinism holds that the universe is
rational in its activities (Widerker, 2017). The rationality of the universe is further acknowledged
by the fact that the complete knowledge on any given situation within the universe ensures the
concerned person might possess the knowledge of the universe as a whole and the future of the
universe as well. The determinism theorists further state that the various definitions of the theory
have sprung from the various measures and considerations that might have been overlapping in
nature.

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The theorists of determinism further state that the determinism is often considered to be
similar to the theory of casual determinism. The casual determinism might further be defined as
the cause and effect relationship among the activities in terms of the physics. The concept of
casual determinism states that the various events that are contained within a given time paradigm
are known to be bound by the concepts of causality such that the states of the concerned events
are determined by the earlier stages of the concerned events. The theory of determinism is often
seen to be put forth as an opponent to the matters that are related to the concepts of free will. The
theory of compatibilism states that the concepts of free will might be compatible with the
concepts of free will. The theory of compatibilism might, however, deal with the various matters
that might refute the claim of having any compatibility among the concepts of free will and the
determinism. A certain number of theorists might hold on to the argument that the concerned
concept of determinism might not be possibly compatible with the concept of free will.
The concept of determinism states that the actions that have been undertaken by the
various residents might be predicted from a time well before the time of action. These views
however seem to contradict with the concept of the free will that states that the concerned human
being in discussion chooses the course of action that he or she might undertake in a given
situation. This creates the conditions wherein it becomes difficult for the concerned people to
determine the truth of either of the concepts (Widerker, 2017). The concept of compatibilism
states that the concerned human beings might demonstrate the properties of having a free will
while existing in deterministic surroundings. The theory of compatibilism states that the free will
of the concerned person might be described as the ability of the concerned person to choose the
concerned course of action in a given situation whereas the theory of determinism states that the

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concerned person needs to choose from the predicted courses of action that have been decided
from the previous times.
Do humans have free will?
The issues related to the free will might be considered to have a collision with the beliefs
that are related to the two valid yet opposite perspectives on the issue. The conflicting viewpoints
that have been present in the matters pertaining to the concept of free will deal with the
metaphysical perspective on the issue and the scientific perspective on the issue of free will. The
propounders of the metaphysical perspective of the free will argue that the existence of the
concerned human beings might be questionable with the questions that are raised on the matters
of the free will that are depicted by the concerned individual (Appiah-Sekyere, 2013). The
celebrated psychologists Skinner and Freud argued that the behavior on the part of the humans
were dependent on the various internal as well as the external matters that were influential for the
concerned person. The famous psychologist Sigmund Freud had argued that the behaviors of the
concerned human beings were resultant factors that stemmed from the conflicts that arose in the
unconscious levels of the mind of the concerned person. However, Skinner opined that the
choices made by the concerned person was heavily influenced by the environmental factors that
were active within the surroundings of the concerned person. The psychological analysis that
was put forth by the celebrated philosopher Descartes states that the free will of the concerned
human beings is a matter that might not be constrained by any such factors that pertain to the
environmental or the internal causes that are existent. The view put forth by Descartes is known
as libertarianism and might be considered to be a dogma for the concept of the determinism that
states that the actions of the concerned human beings are predetermined by the causes that
influence the decisions that are taken by them. An example of the free will might be cited in the

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condition wherein the audience of a football match tends to put forth the good vibes to the
concerned player but fails to realize that those would not be effective until the player implements
the free will within himself to complete the concerned pass that the audience had been cheering
for (Bergson, 2014). The philosophers further argue that the free will might refer to the various
events the causes of which are not understandable by the commoners.
In lieu of the above discussion it might be pointed out that the free will and the
determinism are two concepts that exist within the minds of the concerned human beings. The
concepts of free will and determinism might vary from each other yet are overlapping in the
various other contexts. The theory of compatibilism states that the concepts of free will might be
compatible with the concepts of free will. The theory of compatibilism might, however, deal
with the various matters that might refute the claim of having any compatibility among the
concepts of free will and the determinism. Thus, it might safely be concluded that the free will
exists within the minds of the human beings alongside the concept of determinism.

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References
Appiah-Sekyere, P. (2013). Determinism, Free Will, and Moral Responsibility. Philosophy
Study, 3(11), 1032.
Bergson, H. (2014). Time and free will: An essay on the immediate data of consciousness.
Routledge.
Widerker, D. (2017). Moral responsibility and alternative possibilities: Essays on the
importance of alternative possibilities. Routledge.