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Free Will Vs. Determinism Free-Will Term Paper

The individual abilty to learn and become a greater agent of responsibility seeks a concept of free will to explain how this can be done and with good reason. The individual has no reason to express learning and to grow from human ideas and actions if he or she is resolved to live with a predetermined set of consequences and actions. As man's ability to reason is what is said to seprate us from animals then "free will" becomes and essential aspect of the equation. Why exactly is it important to so many of us whether or not we can be self-directed, not just politically but also metaphysically? In certain philosophical contexts, such as some discussions of the problem of evil, the high value of free will is taken as an undefended premise. 8 and attempts to support it are sometimes less than persuasive. For instance, it has been argued that free choice is required for rationality, for learning, and for cooperation, and that therefore it is significant. 9 but, on the contrary, there seems to be nothing in the notion of a rational (or a warranted or a justified) belief that depends upon the belief's being freely acquired. And if learning is the acquisition of information, then it is, at least in principle, not reliant on free choice.

Ekstrom 7)

The answer to this question is that "fee will" and...

Reasoning through the concept of "free will" and determinism in and of itself requires that the individual exhibit a desire to learn about that which is not evident. This reason and desire in and of itself spawns the idea and supports the concept of humanity as a singularly important creature in the development of the world. If we are to be stewards of the earth, we as individuals must seek and accept responsibility for our actions, both good and bad. To seek to learn right from wrong is essential to human development, without "free will" as a gift from a loving God or simply as an aspect of the human condition precludes responsibility and therefore learning.
Works Cited

Ekstrom, Laura Waddell. Free Will: A Philosophical Study. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2000.

Free Will" New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia Online. April 15, 2008, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06259a.htm.

Kapitan, Tomis. "Chapter 6 a Master Argument for Incompatibilism?." The Oxford Handbook of Free Will. Ed. Robert Kane. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. 127-154.

Kane, Robert, ed. The Oxford Handbook of Free Will. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.

Sources used in this document:
Works Cited

Ekstrom, Laura Waddell. Free Will: A Philosophical Study. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2000.

Free Will" New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia Online. April 15, 2008, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06259a.htm.

Kapitan, Tomis. "Chapter 6 a Master Argument for Incompatibilism?." The Oxford Handbook of Free Will. Ed. Robert Kane. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. 127-154.

Kane, Robert, ed. The Oxford Handbook of Free Will. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.
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