Free Will

Any website with the name a voice crying out for freedom seems as if it should address the concept of free will. Free will implies, for some, that it is the ultimate type of freedom. But as a precaution I will begin this blog with a quote from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:

“The term “free will” has emerged over the past two millennia as the canonical designator for a significant kind of control over one’s actions. Questions concerning the nature and existence of this kind of control (e.g., does it require and do we have the freedom to do otherwise or the power of self-determination?), and what its true significance is (is it necessary for moral responsibility or human dignity?) have been taken up in every period of Western philosophy and by many of the most important philosophical figures, such as Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Descartes, and Kant.:’

Immediately this tells us this discussion will not be simple and free will cannot be described merely as the ability to make decisions on our own. The philosophers have decided that if future events are deterministic then free will is not possible. But if the future is not deterministic but occurs randomly then free will may be possible, or not! If some of these conditions, free will and deterministic, can occur simultaneous and are compatible then those philosophers are call compatibilists.  And among the philosophers there are even anti-compatibilists and libertarians. Each present their case to discuss in great detail whether free will can actually exist or it is an illusion. And even thought Augustine and Aquinas are mentioned in the above quote we have not even discussed the effect of religion on the concept of free will. This complicates the discussion even more since religion often relates free will to God’s grace and whether or not it is God that has given man free will. And religion also discusses what role the question of predestination plays in free will.

Since this has been going on for millennia and there are hundreds of noted philosophers and theologians  advocating different approaches to the question of free will, I will not try to unravel that entanglement but rather will take my own path.

I will however take the path of religion and begin with the Christian doctrine that man was made in God’s image. Just what does that mean, made in God’s image? Most think it means a physical image. But considering we have so many different races, is that what it means? No I think it meant that he gave man a soul and a free will. This relates directly to man’s salvation which is what God wants for man and this comes from his soul which never dies and allows him to live forever. But it is his free will which determines whether he live in Heaven with God for eternity, or not! This means that man has the ability to choose between good and evil! It also makes sense that God gave us free will because God is Love and he loves us and wants us to love him and you cannot give or accept love without free will.  Love cannot be forced.

I will let that sink in for a while but something you should also consider is  that this implies that the world is not deterministic but events often occur randomly (or at least in a undetermined manner). This is a result of what has been happening in the advancement of physics as we learn more about how the world works. In the past science had been successful in demonstrating that all of the earth’s secrets followed strict mathematical equations such as Newton’s laws about gravity and other related phenomena. So overwhelming was the evidence that many were predicting that everything on earth had a cause and effect and everything was deterministic. That is, if you knew the initial starting conditions, there were equations which could accurately predict the final future condition. Scientists, who thought this, were in for a shock when quantum physics was discovered. It was even more upsetting when Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle was discovered. Heisenberg’s principle stated there was a limit to the precision by which the position and momentum of any particle could be measured.  In essence, it admitted that there was a limit to scientific knowledge!  Hence scientists and mathematicians could no longer be so smug about their superior position and that perhaps there were some things beyond their understanding. Never-the-less, science and mathematics can give us a better understanding of how the world operates and even can help explain some the secrets of the world, including some of God’s secrets. Events were no longer certain but were expressed in a probabilistic manner.

We are all familiar with the best known case of man (and woman) using their free will. That was of course in the garden of Eden. But what about us? How does this apply to us? Have you ever heard of the book, When God Winks At You? It is by Squire Rushnell and its secondary title is How God Speaks Directly to You Through the Power of Coincidence. Think about that secondary title How God Speaks Directly to You. When people read this book  I ask them to think about those important instances (coincidences) that had an important impact on your life. I did it and it was both amazing and a little frightening. Fortunately almost all the instances it had positive effects. This means that God not only gave you a soul and free will but he occasionally (randomly??) presents opportunity for you to interact with him and use your free will. Living in a world that is not predestined appeals to me. It means that because of my free will I can impact the course of my life. With this great freedom comes responsibility and accountability. This means because I alone am responsible for my decisions then I am also accountable for those decisions, not anyone else. This is important because although I did not get into the details of the numerous opinions of the philosophers and theologians many of the philosophers concluded that you could not hold a man responsible for a bad decision if there were events that affected that decision over which he had no control. Events like bad parents. This concept that we cannot hold people accountable for their decisions is not only bad philosophy but it is bad for our society.

Recall in Scripture when God asked the man why he ate the apple, he blamed the woman. And when God asked the woman why she ate the apple, she blamed the snake. God did not buy the excuses (tough love) so they had to suffer the punishment. We have free will and are therefore must be held accountable for our decisions. Otherwise we have a society in chaos.

My guess is that this discussion took an unexpected path for many of you. Hopefully I have given you something new to consider. Leave a comment, I would love to get your input.

Will Lannes