Are a person’s thoughts and actions unchangeable and a necessary result of previous events? Or are a person’s thoughts and actions free from external constraints? This debate between determinism and free will has puzzled people since antiquity. Many philosophers have made attempts at solving this problem. Some have adopted the theory of hard determinism meaning that actions are completely determined by external sources3. Some feel freedom and determinism are compatible with things like the laws of nature being determined and as long as a person is free from external constraints the person has freedom to decide their actions and behaviors3. There are also some that adopt a libertarian view in that humans are totally free and the universe
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For Descartes, the physical world is deterministic, but our thoughts and ideas are free and can actually influence the material world. This soft deterministic attitude is heavily tied to Descartes clear and distinct ideas (which are the foundation of his rationalism) and his proofs for the existence of God1. Descartes, being a rationalist first struggled with determining absolute truth before tackling the problem of the material world. He asserted the only way to absolute truth and a way to avoid error is through clear and distinct ideas- ideas that cannot possibly be …show more content…
David Hume, a radical empiricist, was a Scottish philosopher who wrote his understanding about the relationship of free will and soft determinism. In his work “An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding,” Hume comments that one can observe regular patterns in the physical word. Furthermore, he continues to state that “all things are necessary” by which he is referring to things that happen consistently which is the basis for his soft determinism5. When Hume speaks of consistency he is referring to his idea that there is no a priori cause and effect. Cause and effect do not live in nature or things in themselves, rather this idea of necessary connection lives in one’s understanding of reality through their senses5. For example, if someone was to release an egg from their hand while standing, one would assume the egg will fall and crack, and indeed it will. But the relationship between the egg and it falling does not live in the egg, rather In the observer. A person is comfortable in stating the egg will fall because of past experiences and the regular pattern of watching things fall once released. Moreover, Hume’s necessary connection is adopting the idea that there are some things in reality that are determined such as the laws of physics and genetics (because of its consistency) and some things are free such as a person’s freedom of action as long as they are free from external coercion. In Hume’s soft determinism, he
For Descartes, the physical world is deterministic, but our thoughts and ideas are free and can actually influence the material world. This soft deterministic attitude is heavily tied to Descartes clear and distinct ideas (which are the foundation of his rationalism) and his proofs for the existence of God1. Descartes, being a rationalist first struggled with determining absolute truth before tackling the problem of the material world. He asserted the only way to absolute truth and a way to avoid error is through clear and distinct ideas- ideas that cannot possibly be …show more content…
David Hume, a radical empiricist, was a Scottish philosopher who wrote his understanding about the relationship of free will and soft determinism. In his work “An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding,” Hume comments that one can observe regular patterns in the physical word. Furthermore, he continues to state that “all things are necessary” by which he is referring to things that happen consistently which is the basis for his soft determinism5. When Hume speaks of consistency he is referring to his idea that there is no a priori cause and effect. Cause and effect do not live in nature or things in themselves, rather this idea of necessary connection lives in one’s understanding of reality through their senses5. For example, if someone was to release an egg from their hand while standing, one would assume the egg will fall and crack, and indeed it will. But the relationship between the egg and it falling does not live in the egg, rather In the observer. A person is comfortable in stating the egg will fall because of past experiences and the regular pattern of watching things fall once released. Moreover, Hume’s necessary connection is adopting the idea that there are some things in reality that are determined such as the laws of physics and genetics (because of its consistency) and some things are free such as a person’s freedom of action as long as they are free from external coercion. In Hume’s soft determinism, he