FATE v. FREE WILL

Fatalism

• The idea of fatalism coincides with destiny. This means that everything in our lives is predestined by fate. In other words, everything we have done, are doing now, and will do, cannot and will not be changed in any way. Our feeling of being free is an illusion.

Fatalism

• In trying to disprove the notion of fatalism, a fatalist would say that whatever we do or say to try to disprove it is itself predestined by fate!

Fatalism & Predestination

• Fatalism is a common idea in theology, dealing with one’s destiny.

• Predestination is the notion that God “saves” some and adjudges others to “eternal death.”

• Predestination says God has foreknowledge that extends to the whole world and has determined what will become of every individual.

• John Calvin was the main proponent of the doctrine of Predestination.

Fatalism

• This seems like sort of a bleak outlook on life, and if it were true, it almost seems that humans are utterly useless in the decision-making role.

Fatalism

• Aristotle explained through “The Sea Battle Analogy” that fatalism is possible through the idea of necessity.  Here’s a shortened version:

If I were to suggest that a sea battle will occur in 100 years in the Atlantic Ocean, and you were to suggest the opposite, it is necessary for the sea battle to either happen or not happen. Therefore, it is fated for the sea battle to either happen or not happen, but whatever happens occurs out of necessity.

Fatalism

• One of the problems with this whole idea is that if everything were predetermined, then no one would be morally accountable for his or her actions. Since everything happens out of necessity, as Aristotle says, then there is no reason to punish anyone for his or her wrong doings.

Philosophical Libertarianism

• This is the view that grants us free will. All of our choices are direct products of our will and our own minds. Most of us would like to believe this is the case because this would mean that we are free to forge our own futures. 

Philosophical Libertarianism

• This works wonderfully with the concept of morals because everyone can then be held morally accountable for his or her actions.

Philosophical Libertarianism

• Unfortunately, the concept of free will has some problems of its own. The undeniable account of the human condition is that certain behaviors are considered as social or religious taboos, both inside and outside of particular cultures.

Philosophical Libertarianism

• For example, in our culture, pedophilia and incest are just plain wrong. In other cultures / religions, taboos involve the covering of specific body parts, consumption of specific animals, and various sexual relationships.

Philosophical Libertarianism

• Beyond taboos, there are further obvious restrictions on our freedom: we are not free to do anything that we are physically incapable of doing. For example, we cannot change the past, breathe under water, or fly like a bird.

Philosophical Libertarianism

• If we had true free will, nothing would prevent us from doing any of the aforementioned things. If social stigma and physical limitations did not exist, who knows what humans might do? This may seem ridiculous, but it’s proof that humans don’t just do whatever we want. Rather, we have a whole underlying system that we follow without even realizing it.

Determinism

• Determinism is similar to fatalism in the way that our future is determined. However, it’s not the same in its definition — fate has nothing to do with determinism.

Determinism

• Determinism is the idea that everything is the result of causality and physical law. Basically, everything leading up to what you are doing right now is determined by the ongoing chain of events in your life. What you are doing now is happening because the last thing you did led you to this point. This chain of events is unbreakable, and it goes on and on and on.

Determinism

• We can observe determinism in the universe itself, which seems to follow a predictable pattern. Physical law would not, and could not, allow anything else to occur.

The Paradox

• Let’s examine the paradox, which is as follows:• Everything in life may be predestined by Fate or God.• The universe seems to be governed by a deterministic long

chain of causal events that are explained by scientific laws.• We all perceive the notion of having free will.

• We can’t possibly have all, yet at times each seems to have validity.  Different philosophical theories have arisen in an attempt to fix this problem, but none are universally acceptable.

What do you think?

Do we choose our own destiny?

OR

Are we puppets on a string?