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The Metaphysical Issue Of Free Will

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Everyone believes himself or herself to possess the freedom of will. If we do not have free will, then that suggests that we lack any power or control over anything, therefore, nothing is up to us. This would impair our view and perception of our society, community and the world. The metaphysical issue of free will is if the initial conditions are fixed and all the laws of nature are deterministic, then the resulting outcome that will happen thereafter is also fixed, because of the laws of nature as well as the initial conditions. So do we actually have free will? This question has become a paradoxical topic, with issues arising from philosophical concepts, including causal determinism and fatalism. This creates a problem for free will…show more content…
Harry Frankfurt debates the issue concerning moral responsibility without the presence of free will. However, his hypothetical demonstration cannot exist, therefore his account does not adequately address the problem with free will. The metaphysical issue is in regards to the concept of determinism. Causal determinism describes the view that all events are the outcome of prior conditions and precedent causes, meaning that the condition at a particular time determines the condition of the next moment in time. With the laws of nature, the initial conditions essentially fix the future to go a specific way. This indicates that to us, given the past history and prior nature, we are only able to act in one particular way. Causal determinism clashes with regards to the idea of free will, because it suppresses our ability to exercise control over our actions while considering the moral responsibility that corresponds these choices. It can be seen as everything in the universe is unfolding like the domino effect, each domino falling over the next and continues onwards, suggesting it inevitable to result otherwise. The concept restrains our freedom over selecting the alternatives when making decisions, which contradicts the definition of free will, since free will means that we have the freedom to act otherwise in the same situation without constraints or restrictions, making them incompatible. Some argue that if we do not have the freedom to choose to do otherwise, then we
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