Free Will - Does It or Does It Not Exist?

by truth_b_known 52 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Sea Breeze

  There needs to be an agreement on what the terminology means.

  Free Will doesn't mean that we are without influences, temptations, predispositions, context, etc. The fact that we can choose in spite of (as well as because of) such things is only further evidence of free will.

  Furthermore, if we choose not to exercise our free-will, that is an expression of free will as well.... just as making excuses is also a choice and an act of free-will.

  Animals exhibit some volition, but are generally void of moral choices. We are capable of making moral choices whether we choose to admit it, or choose to engage in it or not.
  
  
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  Anna Marina

  How old do you have to be to have to have free will? What about babies who are still inside their mother? Do they have a right to choose to live? Can they? If not why not?

  Has this got anything to do with how strong you are?
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  Sea Breeze

  What about babies who are still inside their mother? Do they have a right to choose to live?

  Excellent question. Those that claim they are pro-choice really seek to eliminate the free-will of those they would like to cancel.
  
  
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  truth_b_known

  I found some interesting viewpoints on this topic -

  Free Will, defined as the ability to have done otherwise, is not logically possible. All events must either be caused or uncaused, these are the only logical possibilities. In a universe where all events have prior causes, Free Will cannot exist as every outcome is completely determined by the given set of conditions; there is only one possible outcome. In a universe where some events do not have causes, Free Will still cannot exist as uncaused events cannot be willed into existence by a person, they would happen at random for no reason. These exhaust all possibilities, and therefore Free Will does not exist.
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  Sea Breeze

  "Free Will cannot exist as every outcome is completely determined by the given set of conditions"

  Assumptive, not scientific.
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  Anna Marina

  Frankly some academics and officials have lost the plot haven't they. It was a choice they made in the face of determined opposition. They'd be wise to change their course but will they? Or do they so enjoy perversion and illness, they want to encourage perversion from a young age so when they go down (which they will) they will try to take others with them?

  It could be they are also paid a lot of money to promote perversion. In which case they are intellectual prostitutes who don't care about the lives they damage. So very like a mind-control religious cult we know.

  It is unkind. But as this lady shows, you have a choice, you can stand up and say 'no' to these people.

  UKC Interview: Kim Isherwood protecting our children from Religious and Sex Education (rumble.com)

  The direction comes from UN policy and next minute is in national system and enacted in local councils. This affects every child yet to be born. It is all unscientific. It is very sinister and damaging. Babies are being abused.

  Note she says no support from the churches and parents are being told their views are old fashioned.
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  Phizzy

  Free Will and Determinism will be debated by every generation of Philosophers.

  Neither, it seems, exist in the absolute, determinism does not seem to fit in with Quantum Mechanics, and so many factors affect our choices that we cannot say we are truly Free, or that our Will is something that we control 100%.

  But we DO have choices, we need the strength of character to make good ones.
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  Anna Marina

  It is helpful to know what 'good' is. Hence Mosaic Law is extremely informative and enables enquiring minds to identify that Jesus Christ did not sin. For those who WANT to make genuinely beneficial/healthy choices the narrow path exists.

  Thank you Jesus Christ for what you did for us.
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  cyberjesus

  We want to think we do... because it feels good to know we are in control.

  But our prior experiences determine our present actions.

  We all think that the WT is a cult. The jws dont.. because of what we think we know. We act based on what we have in our brains.
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  Anna Marina

  Every prior experience took place in a present moment.