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The Big Question
We have all encountered some important questions that are completely unanswerable about the existence of human beings. Many scholars and religious leaders all have their own theories on why we exist. Know the Big question to all of them is, Do human beings have free will? Philosophers have researched all evidence supporting this question, but it is up to someone to decide on what to believe in.
According to some writers like Martin Fischer, human beings do not exercise the power of free will but are responsible for all the decisions and actions. In most of our cultures, we believe that we have the choice to choose between right and wrong (Fischer et al., 29). The Christian dominion argues that if people say there is no such thing as free will, then there is no such thing as choosing the righteous path. Today, arguments on free will run America’s politics, mostly criminal law. They argue if a convict had a choice to make before committing a particular crime.
There have been recent studies on the brain to see its inner workings. Brain scanners identify the complex network of neurons in someone’s brain, and the research shows that these networks are shaped according to the genes and the individual’s environment (Libet et al., 50). These neurons determine almost everything we do start from the thoughts we have, the memories we share, and even the dreams we have. This supports cases like ordinary adults becoming who become murderers when they develop complications like a brain tumor.
Although many researchers argue that there is nothing like free will, most of them live the space to see that we could be the authors of our destinies. Without free will, life is boring, and it may lack meaning (Pereboom et al., 54). The summary of all this researches comes to two views. We can think of human beings as either a bunch of interacting particles or physical systems or think of them as psychological features with mental capabilities. If we choose the first argument, there will be no room for free will, but the second one supports free will.
Works Cited
Pereboom, Derk. Living without free will. Cambridge University Press, 2006.
Libet, Benjamin. “Do we have free will?.” Journal of consciousness studies 6.8-9 (1999): 47-57.
Fischer, John Martin. The metaphysics of free will. Vol. 1. Oxford: Blackwell, 1994.