Ah. The month of page-turning is now at its end. The final installment comes from yesterday’s blog, in which I talked about smoking. In it, I mentioned the English businessman and mogul who promoted smoking worldwide. His name was Henry Wills.
It is his last name that interests me. Wills. Will.
The word “will” can mean a whole lot of different things. I’ll reproduce the Webster passage on “will” right here and now:
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will1 | wil |
modal verb (third singular present will; past would | wo͝od, wəd | )
1. expressing the future tense: you will regret it when you are older.
• expressing a strong intention or assertion about the future: come what may, I will succeed.
2. expressing inevitable events: accidents will happen.
3. expressing a request: will you stop here, please.
• expressing desire, consent, or willingness: will you have a cognac?
4. expressing facts about ability or capacity: a rock so light that it will float on water | your tank will hold about 26 gallons.
5. expressing habitual behavior: she will dance for hours.
• (pronounced stressing “will”) indicating annoyance about the habitual behavior described: he will keep intruding.
6. expressing probability or expectation about something in the present: they will be miles away by now.
will2 | wil |
noun
1. [usually in singular] the faculty by which a person decides on and initiates action: she has an iron will | a battle of wills between children and their parents | an act of will.
• control deliberately exerted to do something or to restrain one’s own impulses: a stupendous effort of will.
• a deliberate or fixed desire or intention: Jane had not wanted them to stay against their will | [with infinitive] : the will to live.
• the thing that one desires or ordains: the disaster was God’s will.
2. a legal document containing instructions as to what should be done with one’s money and property after one’s death.
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The definition I like the most is the one that has to do with our personal character. Our will. That “deliberate or fixed desire or intention.”
We all have a will when it comes to most anything. From fixing a bologna sandwich, to deciding we are going to run three miles. Or deciding if we will sew a button on our shirts or not. Or, perhaps, committing to being kind in all our actions.
Will, within philosophy, is a faculty of the mind. It is one of the very important powers of the mind, along with reason and understanding.
And along with that, our “wills” are considered “central” when it comes to ethical behavior. This, because of the will’s role in enabling deliberate action.
A recurring question in Western philosophical tradition is about free will. Not Free Willy. But free will.
According to one online definition: “Free will is a philosophical concept that refers to the ability of individuals to make choices and decisions autonomously, independent of external influences or determinism. It is the idea that human beings possess the capacity to act and choose freely, without being solely determined by external factors or preexisting conditions.”
Do we, or don’t we, have free will?
The side that says we don’t have free will believes in determinism. As in “predetermined.” Determinism suggests that all events, including all our human actions, are caused by prior events, natural laws, or prearranged by God.
If you believe this to be true, that everything is predetermined, that would mean our choices have been “mapped out” long before we ever came along and that everything has a cause. If that were so, our will would not truly be free.
The discussion around free will is complex. In fact, this whole thing has been debated for centuries by philosophers, theologians, and scientists.
Besides strict “determinism,” some other people propose a thing called “compatibilism.” Compatible. This is a perspective that sort of rides the fence. It tries to reconcile free will with determinism. Basically, it says that even if our actions have causes, as long as we have the internal capacity to choose and act on our desires and beliefs, we can still be considered free.
The question of whether free will exists remains a profound and open topic of wonder and discussion.
My big question is, what about personal responsibility? If free will does not exist, then that gives people a “free ticket” to be evil. If their actions are predetermined, were they driven by God to commit a mass murder at Walmart? Or to sleep around on their wives? Or to beat their children?
As I mentioned, this has been a centuries-long debate, and I won’t attempt to answer it here. But I know I have an opinion. Did I come up with this opinion on my own? Or was it prearranged for me?
Well.
Like my dear old dad used to say:
“Where there’s a will there’s a way.”
And that concludes the “page-turner” month of August, where one topic builds on the next.
But now I’m not sure if that was my idea, or if I was just following the big plan.
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Man is a masterpiece of creation if for no other reason than that, all the weight of evidence for determinism notwithstanding, he believes he has free will.
— Georg C. Lichtenberg
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You are free to choose what you want to make of your life. It’s called free agency or free will, and it’s your birthright.
— Sean Covey
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Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.
— Carl Jung
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Is it truly free or not. Will we ever know?
