...TuThurs Prof. Smith Free Will Free will can be perceived as a quality one is born with no matter what your background is. But then again what is free will? And do we all have it? This strikes a huge argument with many outlooks on either the possibility of having free will or the possibility of not having free will. Ranging from Determinists such as Albert Einstein and Libertarians such as John Locke to everyday people such as me who truly believe that we are indeed free. We can conclude that there is a possibility for free thanks to these following premises and principles. According to the Principle of Alternate Possibilities one can choose to do one or the other. Therefore if given two possibilities it is in the power of the individual to either choose to go one way or the other. If I was given the possibility of eating a burrito or a salad I would make a choice depending on the way I felt that day. It could also be based on past habits, information about how healthy both choices are, belief, or my own eating habits. This option can be seen as being determined or free will, but in this instance we will pretend I chose whatever I chose freely. The argument above is both valid and sound. It is valid because both of my premises are true in any circumstance therefore there is no way of proving it false. The soundness is proven when we line up both premises and it gives us a conclusion. One can also conclude that there is no possibility for free will. According to...
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...“Human actions are causally determined and therefore not free” Discuss. Determinism argues that all human actions are determined as they apply to natural laws. However, to say actions are determined means that human action isn’t free and we do not have free will. Free will is the term given to the idea of human ability to do what we like whenever we like without restraint. I disagree with the claim that human action is not free and I will put forth arguments in this essay to discuss this conclusion. Firstly, libertarians would argue that we freely chose our actions as we have an overall feeling of freedom. This relates to our common experiences of choosing and deciding and when we have to make choices we are open to all other alternatives before making a decision. Surely, we only have the ability to freely choose something if we have free will to do so and if our actions were causally determined then we wouldn’t have other alternatives to decide from. Therefore this strong feeling of free will and freedom to do as we choose to would prove that human actions isn’t causally determined. However, determinists would claim that this ‘feeling’ of freedom is not sufficient evidence to say that we are free since it is possible for us to feel free even when we are not. For example, if I had a brain tumour that I didn’t know of which caused me to drink repeatedly then I am unaware that the tumour is making me do so yet I feel as if I am freely choosing to drink. It may seem as though...
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...The definition of free will is; the power of making free choices that are unconstrained by external circumstances or by an agency such as fate or divine will. We use free will to form thoughts by allowing ourselves to completely let go of all external and internal influences to create a free will thought. Truth is defined as; “is what is so about something, the reality of the matter, or as distinguished from what people wish were so, believe to be so or assert to be so.”Ruggiero, 2009 in other words a statement proven to be or accepted as true. We use the truth to form ideas or thoughts but must then test that thought or theory for it to be a truth then we can add to that truth or validate that truth. The definition of knowledge is the facts, feelings or experiences known by a person or group of people. We use knowledge to form thoughts by using understanding gained through experiences, observations or from report from other people to form our thoughts. The word opinion is defined as; a belief or conclusion held with confidence but not substantiated by positive knowledge or proof. We use our opinions to form thoughts by one, expressing our likes and dislikes and by our personal judgments. There are three major hindrances to the critical thinking process and they are; mine is better habit, conformity and generalizations (stereotyping). One method to overcome some of these hindrances is to first examine your first thoughts or first impressions of an issue or...
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...Prof. Kellenberger Phil 310 Free Will When grumpy old Scrooge of the famous movie A Christmas Carol went home on Christmas eve, he had no idea what awaited him. He experienced a night of anguish and terror after three ghosts visit him. Scrooge was a grumpy mean-spirited man after the death of his sister Fan. Just to prepare him for his “life” in death, his dead partner and friend Marley, who facilitates the entire nightmare, shows him the lost lonely spirits who were mean-spirited in their earthly lives. The first ghost who visited him that night was “the ghost of Christmas past”. This ghost serves to remind him how others had been kind to him during past Christmases in his youth and how people in his past embodied the Christmas spirit. This ghost served to instill guilt and remorse. Next, “the ghost of Christmas present” appears to Scrooge and shows him how everyone is enjoying Christmas and spreading the Christmas spirit around town. It also shows how his servant Bob, despite his meager earnings enjoys Christmas with his family. It also shows Scrooge his nephew Fred enjoying Christmas with his family. The two families only show downcast moods when discussing Scrooge. However, Fred maintains hope that his uncle Scrooge can change. After that, the most dreary “ghost of Christmas yet to come” appears to Scrooge. He shows Scrooge how Bob’s son death saddens everyone and leaves them feeling a sense of loss. He then shows him a rich dead man who nobody misses and some...
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...As regards the human person, the genes that predispose an individual’s temperament interact with their personal experiences to mold their individuality. A person’s individuality encapsulates both their internal and external reactions, as every human possesses a solitary, distinctive mind that constitutes their self-identity. A person’s actions cannot be solely attributed to the interaction between genes and experience, however, because within every person there also lies a will— a will that is free to make decisions and perform the actions it so desires. As was established previously, “inherited temperament deals the cards of life, and the human person—body and soul with innate, adventitious, and fictitious ideas— plays the hand they are dealt as new objects, experiences, and relationships are thrown their way.” In other words: nature, the innate qualities a person is born with due to their genetic make-up, interacts with nurture, the personal experiences a person comes into contact with. This was earlier explained using the empirical concept behind psychology’s diathesis-stress models, which examine how an individual’s level of vulnerability to abnormal behavior or mental illness (the diathesis) interacts with environmental factors (the stress) to influence behavior and the development of mental disorders. Similarly, a person’s genetic distinctions (the diathesis) interact with environmental factors and events (the stress) to influence their own thoughts, desires, and behaviors...
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...Brett Whiting Professor Bethem PHL_160_05 25 March 2013 Free Will Stance: I believe in the idea of Free Will. Reason: The reason I believe in Free Will is because I believe that everyone has the choice in which decisions they make in life. You should believe in free will because it is what gives you the ability to make your own decisions, gives you control of your life, and gives you a sense of freedom of speech. Thesis: Free will is the idea that everyone has the choice to make their own decisions; some of the theories free will our shown through Harry Frankfurt’s organization theory, Fischer’s factors of control and Hume’s study on desires. 1. Free will based on organization A. Frankfurt on first desires B. Frankfurt says in first desires when he is undergoing a first desire that he has the ability to either eat the candy bar or refrain from eating this. This shows free will because he has the choice to refrain or go along with his desires. C. I agree with Frankfurt’s ideas and beliefs because if we desire to do or eat something then we have the choice in which we can restrain ourselves from doing it due to negative outcomes or you can accept the desire and go forward with the decision. 2. Free will based on Control A. John Martin Fischer free will through guidance and regulative control. B. Guidance Control, people show guidance control by looking over their actions and coming up with the most appropriate outcome. I feel...
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...Maddie Kaipare Ms. Gladfelter Comp II Comp II 10/07/2014 Freewill In the plays ‘A Raisin in the Sun’ and ‘Antigone’ social injustice plays a recurring role in the lives of Antigone and the Younger Family. For Antigone, freedom of free will is ripped from her while the Younger family, even though they have free will, do not seem to make use of it. Freedom and control are the two elements evident in these two plays. Antigone tries relentlessly to procure hers by standing up for what she believes is right, while the Younger family holds on to the past letting it dictate their freedom and control both the present and future. Some might say that Antigone was stubborn and foolish for not letting go of her beliefs but she was portraying her free will and freedom to do what she thought was right. A perfect example of this was when Creon asked her if she was the one who committed the ‘crime/burial, “Do you deny you did this, yes or no?” “Antigone replies, I did it. I don’t deny a thing” (Antigone- 1322). She had the courage, guts, and tenacity to exercise her own discretion and did not fear adversity. The Youngers, on the other hand, are quite the opposite. Although they had the right of freewill and control, they never seemed to take any chances to live for the future but rather let the past undermine what was present and ahead. Mama, seems to be living by rules that her dead husband had set forth and cannot seem to break away from them. For example when Ruth says “Now what...
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...THE RAISE OF USING SOCIAL MEDIA IN NON PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS SUMMARY: This paper will address my observations about the roles of social media, how it affects non profit organizations in term of marketing and fundraising from both negative and positive side BACKGROUND Social media is defined as “group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user generated content” Kaplan, Andreas M.; Michael Haenlein (2010). Bringing organizations the ability to interact with the society, social media has been revolutionizing the way organizations doing marketing. It is obvious that every organization has a great need in in marketing itself, interacting and communicating with its members and society to keep them informed and engaged. For special organizations like non-profit ones, the need of effective communication channels at zero cost is likely greater, especially during challenging economic time today. And social media, currently, is likely the best choices for such organizations. EARTH HOUR-A SUCCESSFUL CASE OF USING SOCIAL MEDIA FOR REACHING AND ENGAGING TARGET AUDIENCES According to Facebook early October 2012, Facebook now has more than one billion users each month and its one billion users have been responsible for 1.13 trillion “likes,” 219 billion photos and 17-billion location check-in. Being one of the “top of mind” social net work, Facebook is used by most of non profit...
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...Samantha Wilson Dr. Carter English 112 FO1 24th February 2013 Pop culture and Our Society Pop culture gives the notion of having a lot of negative implications associated with it. Opponents accuse the mass media of minimizing the intellect of society. Pop culture has grown increasingly more complex over the past thirty years. Some of the biggest influences of style in pop culture stems from watching television, genres of music, video games, the internet and individual trends and fashions. Television plays a major role in present day pop culture. The Nielsen Company estimates that there are 114.7 million United States households with a television. Commercials, music videos, and television shows that push the limits of the FCC, are in a continuous rotation on most networks. TV shows have changed a lot over the past thirty-five years. Also, people have changed their thoughts and perceptions about family concepts, social behaviors, personal interactions, and what’s acceptable in society. Families are no longer viewed perfect as they were once portrayed. Television shows with families like the Cosby’s, the Cleaver’s (Leave It to Beaver), and the Brady’s (Brady Bunch) have become obsolete to today’s suggestive humored sitcoms. Nowadays most television shows are based upon sex, drugs and violence. Sex and murder have become the norm on primetime television. Media news today did a study with 600 films and 5,000 students to find that movies play an important role in people lives (medical...
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...Critically consider arguments for free-will in psychology (30 marks) One argument for free-will comes from the psychological argument, which suggests that people have a subjective sense of free-will and all people are able to make their own free choices about their behaviour. Evidence for this comes from Dr. Johnson in the 18th Century who sustained the idea that ‘we know our will is free, and there’s an end on ‘t’. (A01) However, a counterargument towards the psychological argument is that simply feeling that you are free does not mean that this is true. Skinner claimed that free will was an illusion – we think we are free, but this is because we are not aware of how our behaviour is determined by reinforcement. Freud also thought that free will was an illusion, because he felt that the causes of our behaviour is unconscious and therefore still predictable. (A02 ) In contrast, Valentine (1982) claims that this subjective sense of free will is tenable (reasonable). It is something that can be studied and thus shown to be true, e.g., attitudes towards free will have been found to increase with age and are also more common in individualistic cultures such as the USA and UK where personal responsibility receives greater emphasis. (A02 ) Another argument for free will in psychology derives from the ethical argument. This states that if an individual’s behaviour is determined by forces beyond their control, then the individual cannot be held responsible for their...
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...FREE WILL AND DETERMINISM The concept of free will plays an important part in our apportioning blame or praise , and our holding persons morally responsible for their behavior and actions . In the philosophical work devoted to free will there is no strict definition of this concept but it is widely believed to be a condition necessary for moral responsibility . Proponents of determinism , libertarianism , and compatibilism explain the importance of free will in their theories each in their particular way (Compatibilism Lecture Notes on Free Will and Determinism central hero of Stephen Robinett 's The Satyr ' story can be regarded as a staunch proponent of philosophical hard determinism . Like a true determinist , Silenus , a satyr , does not believe he is responsible for his actions and behavior because he is the creation of another person , namely Hench . He explains his enormous interest in ladies as well as his promiscuous behavior by the fact that Hench gave him the extra Y-chromosome which became a major determinant of his behavior (Robinett According to the satyr , only human beings can be held responsible for what they do . As Silenus does not consider himself a human being on the one hand , and as he was created by Hench on the other hand , it is the latter that Silenus believes is responsible for him and for anything he does . Silenus maintains that he does not know exactly why he does things and that it is Hench who made him like this , and thus it is...
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...PHL 458 CRITICAL THINKING | | Week One Assignment | | | The definition of free will is; the power of making free choices that are unconstrained by external circumstances or by an agency such as fate or divine will. We use free will to form thoughts by allowing ourselves to completely let go of all external and internal influences to create a free will thought. Truth is defined as; “is what is so about something, the reality of the matter, or as distinguished from what people wish were so, believe to be so or assert to be so.”Ruggiero, 2009 in other words a statement proven to be or accepted as true. We use the truth to form ideas or thoughts but must then test that thought or theory for it to be a truth then we can add to that truth or validate that truth. The definition of knowledge is the facts, feelings or experiences known by a person or group of people. We use knowledge to form thoughts by using understanding gained through experiences, observations or from report from other people to form our thoughts. The word opinion is defined as; a belief or conclusion held with confidence but not substantiated by positive knowledge or proof. We use our opinions to form thoughts by one, expressing our likes and dislikes and by our personal judgments. There are three major hindrances to the critical thinking process and they are; mine is better habit, conformity and generalizations (stereotyping). One method to overcome some of these hindrances...
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...FREE CONSENT Meaning of consent: it means an act of assenting to an offer. According to section 13, "Tow or more persons are said to consent when they agree upon the same thing in the same thing in same sense." Thus, consent involves identity of minds in respect of the subject matter of the contract. In English Law, this is called 'consensus-ad-idem'. Effect of Absence of consent: When there is no consent at all, the agreement is void ab-initio, i.e. it is not enforceable at the option of either party. Example: X has one Maruti car and one fiat car. He wants to sell fiat car. Y does not know that X has two cars. Y offers to buy X's Maruti car Rs 50,000. X accepts the offer thinking it to be an offer for his Fiat car. Here, there is no identity of mind in respect of the subject of the subject matter. Hence there is no consent at all and the agreement is void ab-initio. Meaning of Free consent: It is one of the essential elements of a valid contract as it is evidenced by section 10 which provides that all agreements are contracts if they are made by the free consent of the parties... according to section 14, consent is said to be free when it is not caused by (a) Coercion, or (b)Undue influence, or (c) Fraud, or (d) Misrepresentation, or (e) Mistake. Effect of Absence of free consent: When there is consent but it is not free (i.e. when it is caused by coercion or undue influence or fraud or misrepresentation), the contract is usually voidable at the option of the party...
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...Free Will People need to realize that their lives are controlled by free will because our decisions shape how our lives turn out so we need to make good decisions for a good future. This is shown in, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck and the films, The Adjustment Bureau, and To Save A Life. Firstly, the environment that someone lives in shapes who the person becomes. Secondly, a relationship in a person’s life helps/hinders how a person achieves a goal. Lastly, the way a person overcomes an obstacle shapes a person’s life. In conclusion everyday people are faced with decisions that affect their lives so we need to make good decisions to have a good future, this is shown in, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, and the films, The Adjustment Bureau, and To Save A life. Firstly, the environment that someone lives in shapes who the person becomes. This is shown in “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck when, Crooks who is black, sleeps in the barn with the animals since his black. Lenny notices the light under the barn door so Lenny opens the door to find Crooks yelling at Lenny for intruding his area. “You got no right come in my room. This here’s my room. Nobody got any right in here but me” (Steinbeck, 68). Since Crooks lives in a racist environment he gets treated quite poorly which makes Crooks an angry, cranky and stubborn man towards the other farm hands, and white people in general. This is also shown in the movie “To Save A Life”. Jake and his friends all just think...
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...Free Will Two eighteen year old boys killed a young man. They claimed they both had no motive for the murder of the young man. The lawyer of the two killers thought that his motive came from their memory, past experiences, and ancestors. The main question here is are we masters of our fate? Do we have free will? The theory of determinism is that everything has a cause. Everything happens for a reason. Humans try to find a reason for everything. We are humans of curiosity and we strive to find answers. Therefore, some people conclude that determinism is true because it explains that everything happens because of natural occurrences. It gives us an answer for the unexplainable actions that we take. It says that our actions are coerced by other factors around us such as our parents, experiences, and other factors in our life. It sometimes can be true; but not always. I believe that free will is when you can act upon your second-order desires. How do we have any desires if we do not have the free will to act upon those desires? To say there is no free will and that determinism is true, then how can you say that there are right and wrong choices? Every choice you make would have been caused by something. Therefore you didn’t have the free will to make that choice. In conclusion, you would not be responsible for the consequences of your choices because the choice you made was not free; it was caused. There is no way to really prove that you have free will because everything can...
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