The Conflict Between the Arguments for Determinism and Freedom

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Apolinar Alvarez
Paper Number 3

1.Discuss the conflict between the arguments for determinism and freedom.

Everyone in this world has asked this very old question: Are we humans really

free in our willing and choosing, or are we predetermined to be and to do what antecedent

“programming“ dictates? We feel great for the things we go correct but we feel guilty and

blame ourselves for bad decisions. How can we be sure the existence of freedom exists

and not that its just a plain illusion. We also find ourselves in a dilemma we have to sides

we have the feeling of being free and on the other side we have a feeling of being

determined to accomplish something. In reality we come to the real human dilemma we

are both determined and free; and somehow work around the contradictions until we

achieve a viable understanding on how both can be true. We as humans operate on the

assumption that human beings can be morally and legally responsible -if our assumption

of freedom is false, then life as we live it is a cruel joke founded upon a tragic illusion.

We are not what we think we are; life is not what we think it is; the rules of the game are

not what we thought. Skinner’s way of thinking, “freedom is a myth, and a dangerous

myth because we have invested the myth and its symbol (“freedom”) with something

close to sacred qualities. Freedom is an emotion that is a conditioned response,

conditioned (cause) response. If we can’t explain human choice by cause and effect, then

there is no answer. There is no other way to explain human choice. No explanation for

what freedom means . By selecting specific causes and (stimuli), desire effects

(responses) will result. Sartre is convinced that there is no determinism of any kind . Nothing tells me what to do, I decide; I myself decide, I cannot blame God, or others or

my past environment , I am now what I make myself to be, I have to accept the

consequences of my own freedom, take the responsibility for my decisions, and face the

consequences thereof. Environment influences my freedom. Confuse my freedom with

uperconditioning. Sartre claimed that man is condemned to be free. A person is the center

of freedom. We exist in a world without guidelines. Nothing = no meaning. We live in

two realities objective which is real and the subjective not real. Its choose what I want to

be and become- so human meaning is nothing. Meaningful things in life would be:

cultural norms, what u was brought out to be, and social norms. But to live means to

dream a million dreams and forge ahead to catch the fullness of our being. There is

nothing to help us, because the moment we became conscious of what we are, then we

became responsible for everything we are and do. Freewill: the human consciousness is

not subject to the same casual principles that the scientists assumes to operate in the rest

of the physical world. A human is free, absolutely and unconditionally free; “there is no

determinism-man is free, man is freedom”. Sartre: human life is inescapably tragic. Live

life without myth: means for an explanation for life, getting through life with the human

condition and living with that. This can have self cons to make yourself feel better. Sartre

wants us to be accountable for our doings, what we do is our responsibility, we assume

the consequences for our doings. He doesn’t want us to loose our freedom. Self deception

becomes the center of consciousness that becomes and ties with the egocentric

predicament. We have to be authentic in our minds choice becomes ours, our actions our

own, and the consequences ours. We see how freedom becomes more of a choice,

determinism as the definition defines it: the assumption or doctrine that every event in the universe has a prior cause and that all effects are at least theoretically predictable in...
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