The Practical Guide To Free Will & Determinism

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The Practical Guide To Free Will & Determinism

The answer to the question of whether we as humans have control over our actions has been debated for thousands of years. Humans have a strong affinity towards the idea of freedom. We have formed our societies on the basis of personal responsibility. Every person is to be held into account for his or her actions. It is on this basis that we must assume that people have free will. This assumption does not mean that it is certain that people have control over their actions. It only means that it is a practical necessity to believe that it is so.

On the other hand we must accept that our free will is constrained by factors beyond our control. We never chose to be born. We did not design our physiology. We did not choose the society we were raised by nor do we have complete control over our socioeconomic status. We must accept that the world that we live in is, for the most part, largely deterministic.

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Understanding Patience & What It Means To Be Patient

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Understanding Patience & What It Means To Be Patient

Imagine a child waiting their parents to buy them the latest video game console. He knows what day it comes out and knows he’s going to get it. All he has to do is wait two weeks. He feels anxious. He nags his mother and starts acting out in frustration in school. But he’s reserved the console and paid for it. He just has to show up to the store and pick it up. So why is he acting this way?

Most of us tend to think of patience as waiting or the ability to wait. The boy has to wait. Nothing he does will make the game come out any faster. If patience is waiting, how is the boy impatient if he’s waiting? No. Patience is our conduct when we are made to wait or persevere. A person who is patient is calm, collected, tolerant, understanding, compassionate and appreciates that life is often not a smooth ride. A impatient person is impulsive, complains a lot and is judgmental of others.

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The Importance Of Utopia: Visions Of Violence, Peace, Hope & Despair

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The Importance Of Utopia: Visions Of Violence, Peace, Hope & Despair

A utopia of blood. That’s what it was to be. Thankfully it never came to be. The Third Reich was to evolve to become the Greater Germanic Reich, a state that would have plenty for all its people, be advanced in science, people would be proud of who they are and what they have achieved. Above all this vision would only cater to the good people of this world, if others were even considered to be people. It would be a land where the blood of the people was pure and Germanic. It was their right to build such a utopia. They were the superior race.

While I’m sure that most people (though not all people, I do read the news) are quit glad this utopia never came to be, I’m willing to bet that if you are reading this you’re already living in a utopia of sorts. I would imagine that you currently have a roof over your head, know when your next meal will be, aren’t worried about catching malaria, smallpox or the plague. It wasn’t always like this. For the majority of human existence universal abject poverty was the norm. Today poverty is still a major issue, however every year millions are pulled out of poverty.

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Deconstructing Our Understanding Of Freedom: Kant, Autonomy & The Categorical Imperative

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Deconstructing Our Understanding Of Freedom: Kant, Autonomy & The Categorical Imperative

What does it mean to be free? I would imagine that most people would think that freedom is the ability to do what you want to do and be unhindered by others while doing it. All societal structures are built to allow limited forms of freedom, i.e. you are free to do as you wish as long as it does not impact or harm another person’s freedom, health or wealth. Social structures are also built on the idea of free will. Every person is held accountable for his or her actions precisely because they have a free will. To punish crimes if the perpetrator had no free will would be illogical. In truth, a person is free to harm others and limit their freedoms, however society is also free to punish and reprimand them for this. Thus freedom is one of the pillars on which all societies are built.

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I Think, Therefore, I Am: Rene Descartes’ Cogito Argument Explained

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I Think, Therefore, I Am: Rene Descartes’ Cogito Argument Explained

How do we prove something beyond reasonable doubt? We use empirical evidence, corroborate eyewitness accounts and analyze the information that we are given. Most of the tools that we utilize in order to prove that something is beyond reasonable doubt ultimately necessitate the use of our senses, i.e. sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing. This then produces the question, are our senses to be trusted? What can we be certain of without the senses? These questions form the basis of Rene Descartes’ Cogito Argument, which ultimately results in the famous saying, “I think, therefore, I am.”

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