However determinism take an opposite view to this; hard determinism is the theory that everything in the universe, including all human actions and choices has a cause which proceeds it. So whatever we do, we could never have done otherwise, whether we feel we have a choice or not. Soft determinism, on the other hand is a view that although the main events and decisions in our lives are determined, we can choose our own path as autonomous individuals to get there. Hard determinists would agree that ethical statements are merely the result of social conditioning as they believe that everything is determined by a cause. In this case, the cause would be social conditioning – Baroch Spinoza said that although we may think that we are free, we are not, we are merely aware of our actions.
But unlike earlier philosophers, such as Socrates who were concerned with how to live a good/ethical life, and famously said ‘the unexamined life is hardly worth living’, both Nietzsche and Sartre are concerned with being and existence. The first and most important tenet of Existentialist thought is that Man Is Free. Nietzsche believed that the ‘will to power’, was the primary drive and the source of all creative activity and the key to human freedom. It was the all-important way to achieve freedom of the individual and that absolute objective truth of the world was an illusion and our search for such a truth is bred from fear. While having much in common with Nietzsche, both are atheistic existentialists, Sartre proposed that man is nothing but what he makes of himself and therefore by taking responsibility for his actions he can change his life and create a new Man.
He believed in single "drive" or motivating force behind our behavior, claiming that the desire we have to fulfill our potentials becomes closer and closer to our ideals. He felt each person was unique and no previous theory applied to all people. Adler's theory included these four aspects: the development of personality, striving towards superiority, psychological health, and the unity of personality. Alfred came up with the term inferiority complex. He described this as feelings of lack of worth.
Rand says “Reality, the external world, exists independent of man’s consciousness, independent of any observer’s knowledge, beliefs, feelings, desires or fears…” (qtd. The Ayn Rand Institute 1). Consciousness, therefore, is to distinguish reality, not to fashion or form it around a personal belief. Consequently, Objectivists reject all forms of a supernatural or any beliefs unfounded in fact. In the quote below Rand explains why she rejects religion outright, and she believes man himself deserves the attention: Just as religion has preempted the field of ethics, turning morality against man, so it has usurped the highest moral concepts of our language, placing them outside this earth and beyond man’s reach.
'Only Hard Determinism is justifiable' Discuss. Determinism is the idea that all actions are governed by laws outside of one’s control. Some philosophers believer that one’s ability to make free choices is an illusion whereas, others state that there is something else beyond understanding that may cause one’s actions to be determined. There are a variety of theories which are response to dealing with debate about free will and determinism. Hard determinism is the theory that human behaviour and actions are wholly determined by external factors, and therefore humans do not have genuine free will or ethical accountability.
It is impossible to reconcile any kind of determinison with the concept of free will. There are 3 different views on determinism. Hard determinism, which is the belief that we have no free will, our actions are already planned so therefore we have no moral responsibility. On the other end of the scale there’s libertarianism, this is the belief that we have absolute free will, so we have full moral responsibility of our actions. And in between these 2 theories there is compatibilism, which is also known as soft determinism, this is the belief that our actions are free but they are conditioned.
“Free will is an illusion. What seems to be freely chosen behaviour is really the result go internal and external forces acting upon the individual” Discuss this view. Quite simply, the idea of free will is that individuals have complete control over their life and their destiny. Believers of free will are of the opinion that human behaviour is the result of choices which each individual makes for themselves; external factors do not influence behaviour in any way. In total opposition to this belief is determinism, the theory that all behaviour is pre-ordained and we cannot chose our destiny so to speak.
McCarthy uses religous rhetoric in Bells descriptions of Chigure. By calling him a ‘prohphet of destruction’ it is Bells way of articulating something that he can not understand. Throughout the novel we come to realise that Bell infact has no religious faith. Therefore Chigurh is not a transendent force of evil, he is human and in control of his own choices. What is really being articulated is that ‘we are living in a time of change’ modern society is a society based on the freedom to choose our actions as they are no longer ordaned by a religon.
Holden’s problem is not ‘phonies’, but his inability to accept reality. DO YOU AGREE? J.D Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye depicts Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of the text, as a miserable and despondent adolescent consumed by depression. To an extent, it is inferred that his issues are not linked with the so-called ‘phonies’ that he so often blatantly despises, but more so his reluctance to accept reality. In the context of the novel, the definition for the term ‘reality’ would most suitably be discussed as the adulthood which one acceptingly transitions to subsequent to their adolescence.
Determinism vs. Freewill Do we, human beings, have the ability to choose freely? Or are we powerless over what decisions we make in this life? Do we do everything we do out of necessities with no self-control or responsibility? I must refuse the notion that we do not control the choices we make in this life, but many great philosophers came to the conclusion that we don't, these philosophers all reached the conclusion that a person cannot choose freely. This theory is known as Determinism, the idea that all choices are made without freedom due to necessity and desire and is viewed as simply obeying the laws of nature.