Free Will vs Determinism Essay Essay

The statement of whether we worlds are pre determined to turn out how we are and act the manner we do or if we are our ain determination shapers and have the freedom to take our waies in life is a long-standing contention. The thoughts of Sartre. Freud. and Darwin are each strong in their ain mode.

yet Sartre nowadayss the best and most realistic statement as to how we choose our way ; we are in control of the things we do and responsible for the determinations we make.Not merely this. but besides. our determinations have an consequence on our peer’s picks. merely as theirs affect ours. In this paper.

I will reason that Jean-Paul Sartre makes the best statement of the three philosophers in stating we can take our ain way and way in life because as worlds we are consciously cognizant of what is traveling on around us and establish our determinations on that. During the mid 1900s. when Jean-Paul Sartre began printing his thoughts. his grounds for free will and disbelief in determined human nature began to demo up.He is an atheist existential philosopher ; hence.

he believes that doctrine is straight related to individual’s emotions. duties. actions. idea. and “if God does non be there is at least one being whose being comes before its essence” ( Sartre 187 ) . This means merely that adult male foremost exists.

discovers himself. and so goes on to specify who he is. With this. Sartre believes strongly that persons have an innate freedom to take the significance of their lives based on the determinations they make. He talks in his expounding titled Existentialism and Humanism. about how adult male begins with nil and no intent.

He proceeds to state. “He will non be anything until subsequently. and so he will be what he makes of himself. Therefore. there is no human nature.

because there is no God to hold a construct of it” ( 188 ) . His quotation mark is explicating that when we are born. we are non who we are traveling to be in our lives. Who we grow to be is all dependant on the determinations we make throughout our life and how we are affected by the people around us. Our freedom to take what we do and our consciousness are straight related ; hence.

we make each of our picks for a ground.With each and every determination we make in our lives. we are determining our intent and our significance. but in doing our ain picks.

we have to take on the duties that come with that power. Every single demands to be accountable for his ain actions. Sartre explains in his expounding. “I can non obtain any truth whatsoever about myself.

except through the mediation of another” ( 199 ) . This is stating that we need others to assist us organize our ain determinations create and image of how we are to be perceived.It is our duty to set up our ain value and do the best picks for us and our equals. Sartre goes on to reason. “When we say that adult male is responsible for himself.

we do non intend that he is responsible merely for his ain individualism. but that he is responsible for all men” ( 188 ) . As persons portion of a larger group of worlds. we must come to the apprehension that all of our picks will impact our equals and have an impact on the determinations they will take to do which in return affect us. Many people turn to a higher power to soak off duty for their actions.For illustration.

Acts of the Apostless of terrorist act are frequently blamed on a higher power “speaking” to the group of terrorists stating them to make this. nevertheless. this higher power does non be and the duty is wholly on the persons. Our picks and actions create an image of humanity and human nature ; hence. we must consciously do determinations that will profit our group as a whole.

In reading portion three of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. I had a hard clip happening where in there free will could be seen.After reading thorough it once more. it began to demo up that the citizens truly didn’t have entire freedom. Their determinations were being controlled by the persons in the authorities. hence.

forestalling them from holding true free will. Although in today’s society we are still be controlled by the authorities merely as Winston is in the narrative. Sartre’s statement of free will still be. We can still do our ain picks to make what we want. but as he said we are besides still responsible for our actions. whichever they may be.

Sigmund Freud is a philosopher who is good known for his surveies in kid development.He believed strongly that the picks that are made for you as a kid are 1s that will determine who you are as you get older. Equally far as free will. Freud believes it is something in which we like to believe that we have.

but truly our life is already chosen for us. The manner our life is chosen during the kid development period is specific and alone for each and every human being because we all encounter different experiences. To Freud. our actions are chosen by an unconscious force.

hence. go forthing us no room for free will.As mentioned before. Freud says that we like to believe that we have free will. but in world it is merely unconsciously predetermined ideas which shape our determinations.

He argues in Totem and Taboo. “If one of them undergoes psycho-analytic intervention. which makes what is unconscious in him witting. he will be unable to believe that ideas are free will…” ( 101 ) . With this.

he says that because we like to believe we have free will. we besides believe strongly in superstitious notions Other determinist philosophers. such as Skinner. believe that there are some behaviours and actions which are non predictable. nevertheless. Freud argues otherwise.

His method of thought is wrong because as Sartre says. our picks are made by free will and hold an consequence on others. This consequence on others is the ground for their determinations ; hence. it is non the consequence on an innate predetermined force.

Charles Darwin is good known for his evolutionist theories on how we developed from apes into the human being we are today. His most celebrated thought is that of natural choice. besides known as endurance of the fittest. He argues that we are a consequence of a “blind process” of adult male altering based on the environments we are placed in.He says that animate beings adapt physically to their scenes through bodily transmutations whereas worlds adapt to their environments with a alteration in their accustomed behaviour passed down through heritage. Charles Darwin writes in The Descent of Man.

“Thus the societal and moral qualities would be given easy to progress and be diffused throughout the world” ( 166 ) . Darwin strongly argues this point that we are determined by the societal alterations made by our ascendants. He believes that these alterations are made over a big period of clip and so easy be acquired by others.With this. it can be concluded that Darwin believes we are determined by preexistent factors particularly the accustomed alterations of our ascendants.

Sartre prepares the best statement out of the 3 philosophers to explicate our method of taking our waies in life. We are non unconsciously taking based on our kid development as Freud implies. and we are non who we are based on the procedure of natural choice which our ascendants have gone through merely like Darwin suggests.We are. in fact. the consequence of picks both ourselves and others have made and the effects that these determinations create on society.

We are all held accountable for our actions and are non to fault a higher power for taking our classs when we negatively affect others. In missing a higher power we have no other beginning of value to turn to other than our ain actions. From Sartre’s statement. it is clear to see that we are given the freedom to take our intent in life and are presented with a witting free will in all state of affairss.