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Mind and World

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Determinism is the philosophical belief that for every incident, including human interaction, there has been a specified set of conditions, which has guaranteed no alternative outcome (Nagel, 1987). The theory of determinism believes that past events have a direct correlation to events that happen in the future. (Dennett, 2003)

However, within determinism, there lies a paradox. How can people have free will if every action has been predetermined? Philosophers have debated whether the existence of free will is directly challenged by the existence of determinism, and in turn have created four possible outcomes. (Timpe, K, 2004)

The first is hard determinism. This believes that complete determinism is true, that all actions are pre-conceived and reliant on the past in order to occur, thus rendering free will to be impossible. Following this, there is a compatibilist view. This view believes that although determinism is true, there is still the possibility for free will to occur (Smith, Q & Oaklander, L, 1995). Thirdly, there is hard incompatibilism. This encompasses the belief that determinism is completely false, and that free will is also not possible. Finally, there is libertarianism, another incompatibilist belief. In this, it is believed that determinism is ultimately false, and because of this, free will can occur (Smith, Q & Oaklander, L, 1995).

Going back to the determinist viewpoint: how is free will directly challenged by such a belief? Ultimately, free will does not exist within such a theory. Within determinism, all things are pre-determined (Honderich. T 2015). The past has direct impact on the way things will occur in the future, and because of this, there are no choices, only actions that were always going to happen in one particular way. This inherently proves that free will cannot exist cohesively with this theory, because the existence

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