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Chelsea Thomas Greg Spendlove Philosophy 1010 4/18/14

Human Free Will: Fact or Fiction? For centuries, philosophers and theologians have battled a hefty debate concerning human free will and its compatibility with divine foreknowledge. Its a question thats been around for ages, and yet different theories have only speculated what we, as humans, want to believe. Religious beliefs played their part in forming a divine argument, as well as science providing truth of the universe, but the question still lingers. Are we actually free or are there outside sources dictating our very nature? In this paper, I will argue that divine foreknowledge and human free will are not compatible. First, I will discuss what determinism is and how divine foreknowledge plays into it, then I will compare the different compatibilist belief and how it contrasts with determinism, I will then go on to reiterate why foreknowledge and free will cant coexist. If we take a gander at the Information Philosopher, we will find the definition of determinism to be the philosophical idea that every event or state of affairs, including every human decision and action, is the inevitable and necessary consequence of antecedent states of affairs (determinism-philosopher). In simple terms, our actions,(good, bad, simple, complex) have been predetermined to happen based on events in the past, or from a theological point of

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view, based on a God figure. In most religions, God is portrayed to be an omniscient being that sees all events past, present, or future before they happen and as they happen. In Christian religions, He is also believed to have given man free agency in order to prove, that man, can choose right from wrong in order to live a good and moral life. But if these beliefs of God are true, then there is a mighty contradiction at hand. If God were to know what clothes I was going to wear tomorrow and that I wanted rob a bank, then I couldnt act outside of what He already knows. My fate is sealed and since God has perfect knowledge and knows all things, Ill be robbing a bank tomorrow while wearing a green t-shirt and jeans; its impossible for me to do anything different. The belief that God is responsible for every action in the universe because He wills it is known as Theological Determinism. But if everything is happening because God saw it necessary to happen, then how does His divine plan come into action? Christian religions believe that good, moral acts will send you Heaven and bad, sinful actions will get you a one way ticket to Hell (Swartz). But if theological determinism is true, then whether or not agents repent is ultimately up to God, not to the agents themselves(Timpe). Our eternal fate wouldnt necessarily be up to us, and the idea that we had been given free agency from God goes out the window if He already knows what kind of people were going to turn out to be. Not the mention human accountability would be worthless due to the deterministic fact that our actions were bound to happen. When all is said and done, if theological determinism were to be true, then human free will could not exist. Compatibilists sing a different tune when it comes to determinism. Compatibilism accepts determinism but argues that man is free as long as his own will is one of the steps in the causal chain, even if his choices are completely predetermined for physical reasons or

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preordained by God (compatibilism-philosopher). Compatibilists believe that we can be free and still have our actions predetermined; our will is what makes us free. An example being that I want to eat a brownie. I make the decision that I want to eat a chocolate brownie, but its God who makes it possible for me to move my mouth to eat and giving me the ideas of what the brownie is and tastes like. The key factor is the difference between human action and human will. We can change our will, giving us the opportunity to think otherwise, but our physical actions come from a different source, meaning the universe or God. Not only does compatibilism let you feel free, it gives you responsibility for doing bad or good things. Although its related to determinism, compatibilism is a more positive philosophy because it offers the idea that humans have some sort of control over what they do. We are free, and we have free will, if we are not in physical chains (compatibilism-philosopher). Since there is nothing stopping me from eating a brownie, Im a free human. Though compatibilism is a happier alternative to straightforward determinism, you are still not fully in control of your actions; its the false hope of philosophy. A compatibilist may think he is free, but what he believes is false since he must have the approval from God to act. Divine foreknowledge and free will just cant cohabitate. Their lives are conflicting and cause confusion all around, especially for the people who want to think they have control over their lives. Divine foreknowledge doesnt leave room for human error. The belief that our actions are known before they even happen doesnt leave us with freedom, but a way to escape responsibility and leave our fate to someone elses hands. If theological determinism were to be true then humans wouldnt be able to choose to act or not. Therefore having free will is one of the most basic human rights, but it does not coincide with divine foreknowledge

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Works Cited Swartz, Norman. Foreknowledge and Free Will. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. April 10, 2014. http://www.iep.utm.edu/foreknow/#H6 Timpe, Kevin. Free Will. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. April 15, 2014. http://www.iep.utm.edu/freewill/#H5 Compatibilism. The Information Philosopher. April 15, 2014 http://www.informationphilosopher.com/freedom/compatibilism.html Determinism. The Information Philosopher. April 15, 2014. http://www.informationphilosopher.com/freedom/determinism

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