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Do we have free will?
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Posted my answer, we most certainly have free will, sure we can't go out killing people but we are as free as we need to be.
The Draven said:
Nothing is stopping you from grabbing a knife out of your kitchen right now and stabbing the 1st person you see. Of course you will be punished if caught.
Anyways yeah we have free will. We can do whatever we want. Of course you have to realize there is always reaction to every action.
Nebulous said:
Agreed. Yes, you have freewill to do whatever you want, but you must understand that they're are consequences for every action you take. Whether it be a positive consequence or a negative one, you're responsible for yourself and you need to understand the consequences before an action is taken, as if you're willing to accept those consequences.
Free will raises the question whether, and in what sense, rational agents exercise control over their actions, decisions, or choices. Addressing this question requires understanding the relationship between freedom and cause, and determining whether the laws of nature are causally deterministic. The various philosophical positions taken differ on whether all events are determined or not — determinism versus indeterminism — and also on whether freedom can coexist with determinism or not — compatibilism versus incompatibilism. So, for instance, 'hard determinists' are incompatibilists who argue that the universe is deterministic, and that this makes free will impossible.
Metaphysical libertarians are also incompatibilists. They believe that free will exists and strict causal determinism is false. Their problem is to reconcile free will with chance or indeterminism, which threatens to make actions random.
The principle of free will has religious, ethical, and scientific implications. For example, in the religious realm, free will implies that an omnipotent divinity does not assert its power over individual will and choices. In ethics, it implies that individuals can be held morally accountable for their actions. The question of free will has been a central issue since the beginning of philosophical thought.
Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_will
After reading the defininition, my answer to the OP's question is no.
Metaphysical libertarians are also incompatibilists. They believe that free will exists and strict causal determinism is false. Their problem is to reconcile free will with chance or indeterminism, which threatens to make actions random.
The principle of free will has religious, ethical, and scientific implications. For example, in the religious realm, free will implies that an omnipotent divinity does not assert its power over individual will and choices. In ethics, it implies that individuals can be held morally accountable for their actions. The question of free will has been a central issue since the beginning of philosophical thought.
Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_will
After reading the defininition, my answer to the OP's question is no.
I don't think we have free will, I would however belive so if all of the governments decided to cease to exist.
You see the governments everywhere are stopping us from what we want to do, and there fore they stop our free will.Maybe not all of it. But some of it.
If it weren't for governments Gays could be married, people wouldn't be forced to go to jury duty, people wouldn't be forced into the army, innocent people wouldn't be slaughtered in certain countries all because they are gay.
In my opinion it's the government that is holding us back and thus does not allow us to fully be able to will freely.
If you had full fledged free will, you could get married to the same gender where ever you want, if you had free will you wouldn't be forced to be a juror, nor would you be forced into the military if it is low on soldiers, you would also be able to live freely as a gay person in countries that do not allow you to be gay.
Not to mention, think about all the poor soldiers that were forced into the military and died. They had dreams and all of thier dreams were disinigrated when they were murdered becuase they were forced by the government to fight in a war they did not want to fight in or even have anything to do with.
You see the governments everywhere are stopping us from what we want to do, and there fore they stop our free will.Maybe not all of it. But some of it.
If it weren't for governments Gays could be married, people wouldn't be forced to go to jury duty, people wouldn't be forced into the army, innocent people wouldn't be slaughtered in certain countries all because they are gay.
In my opinion it's the government that is holding us back and thus does not allow us to fully be able to will freely.
If you had full fledged free will, you could get married to the same gender where ever you want, if you had free will you wouldn't be forced to be a juror, nor would you be forced into the military if it is low on soldiers, you would also be able to live freely as a gay person in countries that do not allow you to be gay.
Not to mention, think about all the poor soldiers that were forced into the military and died. They had dreams and all of thier dreams were disinigrated when they were murdered becuase they were forced by the government to fight in a war they did not want to fight in or even have anything to do with.
Yes.... everyone has free will but with knowledge comes the realization that just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.
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