Fate Or Free Will?

Boas, George. “Fact and Legend in the Biography of Plato.” The Philosophical Review, vol. 57,

For these two articles that we read in Crito and Apology by Plato, we could know Socrates is an enduring person with imagination, because he presents us with a mass of contradictions: Most eloquent men, yet he never wrote a word; ugliest yet most profoundly attractive; ignorant yet wise; wrongfully convicted, yet unwilling to avoid his unjust execution. Behind these conundrums is a contradiction less often explored: Socrates is at once the most Athenian, most local, citizenly, and patriotic of philosophers; and yet the most self-regarding of Athenians. Exploring that contradiction, between ¡§Socrates the loyal Athenian citizen¡¨ and ¡§Socrates the philosophical critic of Athenian society,¡¨ will help

Fate is described as "the development of events beyond a person 's control, regarded as determined by a supernatural power" in Webster 's dictionary. Fate is incorporated into everything people do in everyday of their lives. Fate can frequently show the way toward new people, places, and things that define who someone is as a person. Fate can directly determine who one becomes as a person and how one will live out the rest of one’s life, but cannot be controlled by him or her. That sparks the question- if fate is out of a person 's control, does that mean that it is in someone else 's '? Can another person or "supernatural power" control someone 's fate for them? Certainly there must be an answer to support these questions. In Homer 's epic poem, The Iliad, fate is viewed as the center of everything and anything that can happen to a person. The gods in The Iliad are meant to serve and see that the predicted fate for each person be followed through with, though that is not always the case. The mortals in Homer 's epic poem are not miniscule in comparison to the role of the gods, but the gods ' roles are much different. First of all, the gods do not differ from mortals immensely, but they are immortal. Their veins are filled with ichor, a divine substance, rather than blood, which the mortal 's veins are composed of. Without blood, the gods are able to live forever without fear of growing old and dying. The gods do not eat or drink as the humans do either. The

Ancient Greek Mythology has one side on fate vs free will. They feel as though you have no ultimate choice and fate will always be your destiny. However, that does not mean everyone follows their destined path until death. In Homer’s The Iliad, fate and destiny as the final outcomes of a person’s life, however, at some points you wonder if a person’s destiny falls directly in the decisions made by someone. Hektor and Achilles both had choices, but ultimately believed they must follow their destiny. In Beowulf, fate generally pulls out in the deciding factor of one’s destiny. It is fate that makes the legend he is. He goes through every challenge knowing that fate will be on his side. However, he showed free-will when he decided to help out Grendel. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, free-will was shown on a few occasions including Sir Gawain stepping up to play the game with the Green Knight. He decided his life was not more important than King Arthur. The Green Knight showed free-will by not killing Sir Gawain when he was supposed to. Le Morte d’Arthur began driven by fate. Arthur was fated to become king when he pulled that sword from the rock. Hamlet on the other hand does not accept his own fate and wants to make his own decisions on life. In the Duchess of Malfi, the Duchess breaks her fate path to be with someone she loved. Ferdinand, on the other hand, was born being stuck with fate do to something wrong with his brain that made him crazy. While some people believe

amusing sea animals that are on display. The part that is not shown is the fact that many of these animals, especially the large orca whales, are being captured against their will and living in extremely small tanks. The nonprofit organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has been campaigning against SeaWorld for years now. SeaWorld continues to fight back in order to keep their guests coming as well as to make a profit and keep their business. PETA’s main argument to not have captive orcas is that it is unethical and that they should be freely living while SeaWorld argues that their whales are being treated as well as they would be in the wild. In order to find a common ground between these two stakeholders, PETA and SeaWorld must both give and receive something for it to be accomplished.

There are many factors in one’s life that motivate them to strive for higher goals. Psychologist Abraham Maslow proposed a theory called the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. In his writing, he states, “that people are motivated to achieve certain needs and that some needs take precedence over others. According to the theory, human motivation is based on people seeking fulfillment and change through personal growth,” (Maslow). One can see in life that there are various driving forces, both negative and positive, for example, love/lust, knowledge, greed, revenge, and much more, that motivate humans to achieve their goals. Usually, one or more factors become the essential driving force to seek those fulfillments/dreams helping

Fate is the driving force in many epic poems, tales, and stories. This is what predetermines where the hero will go, who they are going to meet along their journeys and what they will become. It may lead to a romance so strong that it forces two cities into a war. Whether they go on to live a long life filled with glorious gifts and honour or, whether they die in battle, a glorious death or otherwise. It is these fates and destinies that are strongly woven into the epics that modern audiences read today and inevitably what pre-decides the outcomes of the epics, fought against or not.

Fate and destiny are both shown to be predominant forces in the Iliad, and all mortals are subjugated to them; they are ultimately destined to fulfill a certain fate or prove themselves in some other way. For example, in the Iliad, Odysseus says that “We Achaeans are the men whom Zeus decrees, from youth to old age” (Iliad 105-107). Fate is revered and obeyed by mortals. However, the gods seem to be almost exempt from this sentence. The Iliad presents the question of who is determinately responsible for a man 's destiny, yet the answers to this question are not quite clear. The three fates are the commanders of a mortal 's destiny: they cut thread to end a life, yet there is misconception over who is in charge of the details of a person’s life. The Iliad makes known that men are somewhat in control of their own destiny based on their decisions and actions, but all actions seem to be predestined. But are these details ordered by the gods or are the gods themselves subject to the will of fate? This essay will argue that the gods have a direct influence on the lives of mortals: the gods have a direct hand in human events and they influence fate, yet they are unable to cheat destiny themselves.

The Pearl by John Steinbeck is a tragic novel about an indigent Mexican-Indian pearl diver named Kino who lives in La Paz, Mexico with his family. Kino’s life was rather peaceful until his baby, Coyotito, got stung by a scorpion. On that very same day, Kino also happened to find the Pearl of the World. Little did he know that the pearl would attract many new unsuspected problems. Steinbeck used the pearl to show how it brought greediness and evil into Kino’s life. Many argue whether Kino’s downfall was fate or because of his own ignorance. Steinbeck uses both of these forces to express how Kino was responsible for his own degeneration, how fate was responsible, and how cataclysmic and ironic his life ended up being.

Plato’s work Crito naturally transitions us to the moment when Socrates is n his cell and is

In the writings of the Greeks, fate has constantly performed an essential duty. Truth be told, in nearly all Greek writing fate has remained the one consistent crisis that each of the central characters are compelled to challenge. In Homer 's Iliad, fate constantly appears to be hiding around the bend, sitting tight for its next prey to meet his or her predetermined course, which is at last demise. Indeed, still the divine beings are unfit to halt or mediate over the span of fate. However, in spite of the calamity and anguish that fate serves, it also appears that free will in the Iliad is not obsolete. Choices are carried out, when confronted with destiny, and despite the fact that the result at last might be identical it brings up the

Fate and freewill are spiritual aspects that explain human outcomes. The tragic story of Dr. Faustus almost divides the readers spiritual opinion on freewill and predestination. While free will and predestination may be complex themes to comprehend, Marlowe flawlessly shows how Faustus’ actions and mindset portray both aspects. Marlowe presents Faustus spiritual struggles while simultaneously explaining life and the choices people make. Humans are free to make mistakes and fully choose how their life unfolds. However, free will is greatly clouded by cause and effect (Strong 7). The play questions the constraints of free will and fate, and the ambiguous nature of both aspects (Manley 219).

Fate: an often-debated topic that states that each person’s future is predestined. However, is fate actually real or do every individual’s decisions shape their future? In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Romeo and Juliet, who are from rival families, fall forbiddenly in love and get married. Later on in the play, after Romeo is banished and Juliet’s father promises her hand to Paris, a kinsman to the Prince Escalus, Juliet plans to fake her death to be with Romeo. All goes wrong when Romeo fails to receive the letter detailing this plan and kills himself because he to be with Juliet, presumed to be dead and in heaven, causing Juliet to commit as well for the same reason. Romeo’s decisions to pursue Juliet and avenge his friend, Mercutio, by killing Tybalt and Juliet’s decisions to fake her death and then commit suicide lead to the lovers’ demise.

Crito was a long and trusted friend of Socrates. They shared and cared for each other,

Every person, no matter the age or gender is, and will always be, worried about its destiny. Destiny, or fate, how most people tend to call it, represents the ultimate step in the road of an individual, the last stage of the play of every living thing. Something so trivial in the life of a person and yet, all people want to know its meaning. Along fate, there has always been the other subject, the one which describes how we get there, the choices, the true faith. It is what uttermost people call free will or, the ability to make our own decisions with the hope of one day achieving a greater goal, to show our true faith. Throughout the course, we have sailed through different stories. Some more interesting than others, but something always remained likewise. The struggle between fate and free will. This relationship has always been a mystery and to understand it, we will take a look at how those two perceptions play a role in the stories No Exit, from Jean-Paul Sartre and Oedipus Rex, from Sophocles.