Illusory Free Will

What exactly does it mean to posess free will? Free will in essence is composed of two conditions. The first and most apparent is that we must be given two or more possibilities or options when faced with a choice. The second, is that we are free to choose the option of choice without force. This notion of free will plays a critical role in our understanding about the world, particularly in our apportioning praise and blame, and in our pronouncement of persons morally responsible for things they have done.

There are many conditions in which we find that serve to dimish moral responsibility and liability. We do not hold those who are young responsible for moral decisions because they are unable to predict their own consequences of actions and

may not have a fully developed understanding of morality. We do not hold those who are under a strong medication responsible, for they may have impaired psychological effects, thus hindering them from responsible choices. Those who are forced, delerious, coherced, or lacking fundamental education or a proper upbringing are also not held responsible. These conditions and influecing factors bring us to the question, is there really such a thing as free will?

Those who view free will as illusory are known as determinists. Everything from the past completely determines the future. The examples stated above ideally demonstrate this concept. The choice that we make is derived from experiences that occured in the past, whether it be our education, family lifestyle, upbringing, use of drugs, or anything else that creates an impact on our lives. As Baron, a strong advocate for hard-determinism, states, "The will... is a modification of the brain. (Fieser and Lillegard, p. 121)" Every choice we make is determined, thus making free will a figment of our imagination or desire to believe that we do in fact have an undetermined choice to do as we please

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