Are We Free To Make Our Own

Choices? Essay, Research Paper

Are We Free to Make Our Own Choices?

Pre-destination can often bring up the question as to whether we as humans control our own actions. Are we free to make our own choices, or is everything we do pre-determined by a supernatural being of some sort? Is it safe to say that we are responsible for our own choices? Do we own a free will that allows us to choose our life path, or are our actions pre-determined, making our exertions useless? In a society that believes in a God who is in control of our lives, this is a difficult question and problem to discuss. But through a series of questions, arguments, and examinations I hope to influence you that we do have a free will and are quite able to make our own choices.

To begin to answer the questions stated in my introduction, we must first cut the fat off the widely used definition of choice. Defining choice in this situation can be a difficult task. One must be careful in using this word. A popular definition of choice could be a mental process through which an individual weighs the consequences of their actions to create an ideal image of their preference to the outcome of their actions. But, when you look at this definition you see that it suggests that someone who fails to carefully analyze their actions doesn?t actually make choices. Can we assume by this definition that choices are free? I believe we can say yes because according to this definition if we do carefully analyze our actions we create the outcome that we choose. On the other hand some people may say no. They may say that if we do not reflect carefully on our actions, we are not taking responsibility for them, leaving the cause of the action to some other force. So, in essence, I believe that answering yes to the definition above is valid?but wait a minute. When looking at the word responsibility in the ?no? side of the argument, one may still draw up a few questions that need to be explained and answered. If we are ignorant of our own responsibility in taking a course of action, how are we to know that we are not reflecting carefully on our actions? What are the standards of responsibility when reflecting on our actions? What if we do something wrong that we do not know is wrong? To answer these criticisms I believe that ignorance of our actions is natural and cannot affect our ability to rationalize to the best of our ability. In a given situation where it is impossible to know what is best, we have the ability to do what we think is best in that given situation. Assuming that an individual has the power to think about and carefully consider choices, I can theorize that they do have a free will within them that they can bring out in any situation, even if the person has no knowledge of what to do in that certain situation.

Some people may not be ready to believe my conclusion as stated above. Is this a reasonable response to believe? Let me elaborate. I believe it is safe to say that most people around here, and even across the nation, were brought up to believe in an omnipotent, omniscient God. I also believe that most people around here believe they have a free will. Does this make sense? Can we put these two things together? I don?t think anyone can really meet halfway in this situation. But it seems that a lot of people choose to do this anyway. It seems to me that the people that ?sit the fence? tend to think that they have total power and control in making small, insignificant choices and that God has total control of large, meaningful choices. They may say that they chose to eat Cheerios for breakfast this morning, but then they praise God that he led them to a certain job opening. Now, if God were omnipotent and omniscient, he would have made both of those choices, right? If God chooses to pre-determine only certain events in our lives, we must have some power as individuals to choose our own paths in life. Now, as confusing as this is, how does one go about choosing between the idea that God pre-determines all choices and the popular belief that he only seems to be involved with the significant ones? Is this a battle of free will? I think so. Now, in arguing for my belief that we do have a free will, I can accept the possibility that God determines only certain events in our life, but I must shoot down the idea that he actually does pre-determine everything we do. Plus I must touch on the perspective that we may be in total control of everything that we choose to do. Well, here goes nothing.

Consider these situations. Wouldn?t it be silly to assume that God chooses which cereal we eat for breakfast in the morning? Wouldn?t it be hard to imagine that God would choose if we would wear a white shirt or a black shirt on a given day? Don?t you think that it would be easier if God gave us some sort of a free will so we would be able to determine these things on our own? One may argue that God can pull this sort of feat off, that He can make every choice in our lives. But, one must consider this. If you think of how many choices you make in a day, there is no way to even count them. I must have already made hundreds of thousands of choices just typing this paper! Now, when you multiply these choices a single person makes in a single day by the 6 billion people that live on the earth, you come up with just about an infinite number. In a humorous manner, this even seems like too big a task for God! In