Free Will and Moral Responsibility - 1037 Words

From its earliest beginnings, the problem of free will has been connected with the question of moral responsibility. Most of the ancient philosophers on the problem were trying to show that humans have sufficient control over their decisions, that all actions depend on them, and that they are not pre-determined by logical necessity, arbitrary gods, fate, or even by natural determinism. The problem of free will is often described as a question of reconciling free will with determinism. The problems of free will are also rooted in everyday thought, and many philosophers such as Nietzche and Dostoevsky address the issues of free will through the books; Beyond Good and Evil, Twilight of the Idols, and Notes from Underground. They both argued that there is no such thing as free will in this world early on, but later disagreed. Nietzche later developed the idea towards free will; human’s freedom and free will are accurately characterized by achievement and ambition, while Dostoev sky still remains with the same argument as before. In the early year, Nietzche’s theories about the issues of free will are not conceptually easy to understand. According to his book Beyond Good and Evil, he states that there is no such thing in this world as free will, because people can never be free to be morally responsible or free agent. It is because being a free agent requires people to be the cause of themselves, and since we are not the cause of ourselves, for example, we doShow MoreRelatedFree Will : Moral Responsibility1167 Words   |  5 PagesFree will is the ability of a representative to make individual choices and/or act upon them in their own desired way. People make choices every day in their lives, maybe with a little incentive here and there, yet in the end, it’s the people’s choice. Free will has been a commonly debated subject throughout history. Not just if it’s true, but ultimately the real meaning of it. How can we not believe in free will? Humans naturally have a strong sense of freedom. Free will is true in species and thereRead MoreFree Will : Moral Responsibility1168 Words   |  5 Pages15 Free will is the ability of a representative to make individual choices and/or act upon them in their own desired way. People make choices every day in their lives, maybe with a little incentive here and there, yet in the end, it’s the people’s choice. Free will has been a commonly debated subject throughout history. Not just if it’s true, but ultimately the real meaning of it. How can we not believe in free will? Humans naturally have a strong sense of freedom. Free will is true in species andRead MoreFree Will And Moral Responsibility Essay2171 Words   |  9 PagesThe concept of free will is a source of constant debate and has been a major focus of philosophic and religious discourse for more than two millennia; the concepts of determinism and free will are among the oldest known philosophies. In the modern age, compatibilists like Laura Ekstrom have argued that the possibility to have chosen a different action — even if the action itself is predetermi ned — renders moral responsibility possible in a wholly determined universe (Ekstrom). Conversely, incompatibilistsRead MoreThe Moral Responsibility Of Free Will Essay2084 Words   |  9 Pagesthat free will is seen as hugely important to western philosophy. In particular, it has been suggested that it’s absence may have ramifications for the existence of moral responsibility, henceforth ‘MR’. I will be arguing that ultimate responsibility is the only sufficient condition forMR and that Baker’s reflective endorsement argument fails to encapsulate all scenarios in which we have MR. In addition, I will argue that belief in moral responsibility isn’t necessary to treat people as moral beingsRead MoreFree Will : The Concept Of Moral Responsibility1275 Words   |  6 PagesPart One, The Thesis: Free-will can be defined as the ability an individual has to act without the limitation of necessity or fate. It the power a person has to act at one’s discretion. Do we really have the freedom to experience what we want, when we choose? Some would say yes while some others will say no, philosophers have argued about this topic and there hasn’t been any particular conclusion yet. It is the ability a person or animal has to choose his or her course of actions. Although most philosophersRead MoreHume s Theory Of Free Will And Moral Responsibility1940 Words   |  8 Pages ¶1)? Would possessing it suffice for us to have free will? David Hume was a Scottish philosopher who was largely active in the eighteenth century. While Hume is largely remembered as being part of the empiricist movement that comprised of John Locke and George Berkeley, which largely focussed on the belief that knowledge came from our sensory experiences; this essay will focus on Hume’s work regarding the concept of free will and moral responsibility. It will do this by introducing Hume’s compatibilismRead MoreSaving Morality: The Implications of Hard Determinism 1116 Words   |  5 Pageslibertarian free will, results in some serious consequences for moral responsibility. At its most extreme interpretation a form of moral nihilism arises. †Without God ... everything is permitted now.†[1] That is, if determinism holds true, then there is no free choice, and without free choice there can be no moral responsibility. By taking hard determinism to its logical conclusion, and evaluating the results of a steadfast adherence to the theory this paper serves to show that moral nihilism isRead MoreFree Will And Determinism Can Go Together1447 Words   |  6 PagesFree will is one of the great debates among humans. What is it and do we even have it are two common questions. Freedom is not always easy to define but there is one compelling version of free will. I believe that humans are not truly free, they have free will but much of their lives are determined by other external causes because of the dual nature of decisions. First I will argue what the theory of compatibilist is and why it is the most reasonable. Then I will look at the moral responsibilityRead MoreWhat Would It Entail?1221 Words   |  5 PagesIntroduction: Imagine a world without moral responsibility. What would it entail? Without moral responsibility, legal systems today would necessarily undergo a dramatic revision. I have not a clue what they might result to. With constituents not being morally responsible for their actions, criminal acts become easily defensible. For the subject, he/she was not â€Å"free† at the time of the act, for one can only be morally responsible for an act if one was free and consciously willed the act ( ). RapeRead MoreSartre View on Free Will Essay868 Words   |  4 Pagesview on free will when he says, either man is wholly determined or else man is wholly free. This quote shows us that Sartre believes that man is free to do what he wants. For Sartre, freedom is the most basic value, which renders possible all other values the way our fundamental plan precedes and grounds our small choices. In that sense freedom is the source of all values. It is not logically possible to make sense of human responsibility and notions of justice without a conception of free will .