Paul D Holbach's The Illusion Of Free Will

In this paper I will present an argument against free will and then I will defend a response to that argument. Free will is defined as having the ability to make our own choices. Some will argue that all of our decisions have already been dictated by our desires therefore we never actually truly make our own choices. The purpose of this paper is to defend the argument that we have free will by attacking the premise that states we have no control over what we desire. I will defeat this premise by showing how one does have control over his/her desires through the idea of self-control. I will then defend my argument against likely rebuttals that state that there is still no way to control our desires proving that we do have free will.

There is much debate over the issue of whether we have complete freedom of the will or if our will caused by something other than our own choosing. There are three positions adopted by philosophers regarding this dispute: determinism, libertarianism, and compatibilism. Determinists believe that freedom of the will does not exist. Since actions are events that have some predetermined cause, no actions can be chosen and thus there is no will to choose. The compatibilist argues that you can have both freedom of the will and determinism. If the causes which led to our actions were different, then we could have acted in another way which is compatible with freedom of the will. Libertarians believe that freedom of the will does exist.

There are those who think that our behavior is a result of free choice, but there are also others who believe we are servants of cosmic destiny, and that behavior is nothing but a reflex of heredity and environment. The position of determinism is that every event is the necessary outcome of a cause or set of causes, and everything is a consequence of external forces, and such forces produce all that happens. Therefore, according to this statement, man is not free.

The debate between free will and determinism is something that will always be relevant, for people will never fully admit that we have no free will. But, while we may feel that we control what we do in life, we simply do not. The argument for free will is that individuals have full control and responsibility over their actions, and what they become in life as a whole (The Impossibility of Moral Responsibility by Galen Strawson, page 16). Determinism, on the other hand, is saying that we have no control over our actions and that everything we do in life is determined by things beyond our control (Strawson, page 7). After analysis of The Impossibility of Moral Responsibility by Galen Strawson and Freedom and Necessity by A. J. Ayer,

This quote supports that claim, and this quote also shows us determinism. Determinism is a idea that we don’t control our lives, and that everything is decided for us when we

Determinism is based off this notion that all events are pre-determined, without influence by human actions. If this is true, we can imply that people do not have free will and thus are not responsible for their actions. In Oedipus the King we see that the dichotomy of fate and free will is hazed by the hyperbole of events, which can make it difficult, but possible, to determine if humans even have free will. Through Oedipus’s flaws and decisions and Sophocles use of the imagery of a crossroad it is apparent that free will can be exercised in a meaningful way.

Timshel; meaning “thou mayest”, holds a significant role in East of Eden. It shows that anyone can desire to surmount vile in their hearts and create morality within them self. In the novel, Steinbeck portrays the significance of timshel through the introduction of free will, the internal conflict of Caleb, and the blessing of Adam.

People believe that genuine freedom of choice is not always possible because our decisions and actions are determined by factors beyond our control. This view is known as Determinism. There is also an extreme form of determinism known as ‘hard determinism,’ in which they believe that every demeanor can be traced to a cause, although they may disagree about what those causes are. The idea of determinism poses a difficult issue to the concept of ‘free will’. Are we able to make free choices if all our thoughts and actions are predetermined by our own past and the physical laws of nature? Majority of us would like to believe that we have the freedom of will and are able to make decisions based on our own discretion but, I personally believe that the deterministic view holds true to a certain extent and that most of our actions are a result of a force that is beyond our comprehension. My purpose in this essay is to explain and critically analyze Baron d’Holbach’s view on determinism.

For Hobart, the cause is independent - a person has free will if they ‘can will either this or that’ in such a way where if that event were to take place, they would be successful. On the other hand, D’Holbach argues that because of determinism the cause must only lead to a single action. As a result, the self would not be motivated to any other choice at the given time and does not have free will. Even though they are like-minded in their interpretation of the self, they still reached contrary conclusions due to their separate definitions of free

Holbach argument of free will starts with his premises one. Every action is caused by a preceding event. Premise two states; no action that is caused by a preceding event is free. Thus, no action is free. Holbach supports his theory by his belief in determinism in premise one and being an incompatibles. He believes that are actions re not caused that they are only absence of the external constraint.

I thought that Baron d’Holbach summarized the determinists viewpoint when he said, “Man’s life is a line that nature commands him to describe upon the surface of the earth, without ever being able to swerve from it, even for an instant. He is born without his own consent; his organization does in nowise depend upon himself; his ideas come to him involuntarily; his habits are in the power of who cause him to contract them; he is unceasingly modified by causes, whether visible or concealed, over which he has no control, which necessarily regulate his mode of existence, give the hue to his way of thinking, and determine his manner of acting” (Chaffee, 2013, p. 178).

“Thank you” Serena kissed Ric's cheek as a matter of gratitude whilst they were in a fine moment of tenderness

Human beings have free will to make choices in life. Life is filled with decisions, that we make every day rather we are aware of them or not. Decisions are much harder than just choosing from right and wrong, because both choices have consequences we desire and other consequences that we are not aware of and may not want to face. We must choose what desires we focus on and choose what we worship. Augustine in the book On Free Choice of the Will, writes about the different types of goods and how are decisions are based on desire of those goods. David Foster Wallace also focuses on our decisions being based on what we worship in the “Kenyon College Commencement Address”. A fulfilling and happy life is only achieved by making the right decisions, which is achieved by putting a priority on the right desires.

The philosophical term free will explains how we are free to choose our actions, and be in control of our behaviors. The determinist approach explains how our actions and behaviors can be predictable because they are caused by prior factors, like our organization. In class, we have discussed Baron d’Holbach and John Stuart Mill’s point of view on determinism and free will. Therefore, I have chosen free will and determinism as my topic to discuss it from Freud’s point of view.

Baron D'holbach believed that everything that's happening in the present now is a result of an chain of events (cause and effect). He said “we are just part of the physical world bound by its physical laws.” Every prior event is a cause but before that cause there was a cause of something else and the chain just goes on forever which means people never really ever have free will do do absolutely anything. Even