Me and my friend were talking, he said that people are not free in anyway because human are limited to just being humans. You cant crawl to the moon, you cant close the door with your mind, you can only do what your nature permits you to do. I told him that I agreed exept that I think within that limited space of what it means to be human, there is some degree of freedom. e.g. I can choose to go left or right. We are limited but yet there still is some freedom i think, unlike my friend who thinks theres none. what do you think? I am not native speaking english, so sorry for the bad writing and plus I am not a good writer i prefer drawing.
2007-03-31 01:01:49 · 17 answers · asked by Lorenzo de' Medici 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
question to one of the answers by gardensofhappiness: what are saying in other words??
2007-03-31 02:00:51 · update #1
Don't worry about your English, Lorenzo.........its better than a lot of native English speakers that get on here !
As regards your question - I think most people's definition of free will would be acts that are necessarily limited by the laws of nature or the capability of the individual.
These does not mean that free will does not exist, it just means that it exists within the realms of the laws of nature. For instance, I cannot choose to just breath in nitrogen and not oxygen, I am unable to lift a double-decker bus. There are many things I cannot do, but I still feel that I have free will. I can choose whether I go to work in the morning or not; which political party I want to support; whether to pay my taxes; which person I want to marry...........and so on.
2007-03-31 01:11:04 · answer #1 · answered by the_lipsiot 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Much as I would like to be so sure as yourself and other answerers here that we do have free will within nature's limitations, I am not. It looks unlikely that being the tiny speck that we are in this vast universe, each of us would be allowed a free will worth it so that the whole fine tuned system could be spoiled or wasted by wrong choices..... I somehow get inclined to believe that even within the free will we believe we have and experience, there is probably some unseen controlling going on just to make sure that the complex equation of each of us using free will in independent own way does not end up in any irreversible chaos. Yet it is also clear that we certainly have free will beyond what we really deserve!! If that sounds confusing, I am afraid that is how I really find it all. Isn't everything uncertain and inconsistent here?
2007-03-31 09:12:32 · answer #2 · answered by small 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You are free to do anything that you want to. If your going to use an example against that, like closing a door with your mind, you should say something that has been absolutely proven false. 90% potential untapped by our brain, how can you say we can't, if scientists can't even, without a doubt, say that. Especially with so many debated stories saying that it CAN be done, by anyone. You want to crawl to the moon, O.K. put a plank from here to there, strap on an oxygen mask and suit, and start crawling. Sounds pretty far-fetched but you are free to do it, if you choose. We have a word in America for your friend, Narrow-minded, as most of us are. He can't imagine something he has never seen, can't understand something that hasn't been explained, and won't acknowledge someone else's opinion because it is not what he believes.
2007-03-31 08:30:13 · answer #3 · answered by ThaiGold 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i think you are both sort of right.
your friend is right about saying you cant like crawl to the moon but you are right saying there are some things you can do eg turn left or right.
i always thought free-will was a choice you made.
for example you cna choose what to wear and that is your free will i think free will exists under natures limataions so there is free will but the free will we have has some limit at the moment because whos to say in genaratons to come we may have found a way to crawl to the moon :-)
2007-03-31 08:33:25 · answer #4 · answered by rockchick 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Free will is difficult for most people to understand because of the way they interpret the word FREE. Free and freedom are relative terms...what appears to be freedom to one person is not necessarily freedom to another. Your friend's idea of free is in the unlimited sense while you are viewing free from a more realistic standpoint. Both of you are correct and that is why this subject of free and freedom remains a hot topic in our society. We live within the limitations of our humanness and we live freely within those limitations.
2007-03-31 09:31:23 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes, you are right. But to your friend he's right as well. We cannot do Jedi things like close the door with our minds. Boy, that would be sweet (where's the TV remote?). We are limited to our bodies. What you're experiencing is the limitations of the human condition. We are able to conceptualize all sorts of stuff but we are limited to being in this one body. I'd like to go to the moon but I can't. Or I'd like to dunk a basketball but I can't. So we pay others who can to do so and then we watch it.
2007-03-31 08:10:00 · answer #6 · answered by bubbasmith 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We humans (most intelligent life forms) live on Earth (so vast that we would not be able to tread the entire planet during our lifetime). Here, we make the choices that shape our lives. It is true that other humans make choices that affect our lives too. If we were to have the freedom to do whatever and go where ever, then that would make us God and more than one God is cause for trouble, would you agree?
2007-03-31 11:10:46 · answer #7 · answered by Piano Man 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think that your friend is correct.
Free will is something that God has given us, but you need to realize that it has its limitations.
Christianity teaches that our free will is so powerful that it can supersede the will of God. This is simple nonsense. God loves us too much to ever allow this to happen.
Our free will is constrained by the choices God makes available to us. That is all of the possible choices that are available to us, lead eventually to the exact same outcome. Some take us in more circuitous pathways but all of the possible choices eventually lead us back home to God.
So the answer is actually yes and no. We do have free will but it is constrained by the choices God allows for us to pick from. God simply loves us too much to allow us any choices that would allow us to become permanently lost to Him.
Many religions teach that this is not the case, that we can become forever lost due to our choices. This is a simple lack of faith in Gods love for us. A simple misunderstanding No more no less.
Love and blessings
Don
2007-03-31 09:52:19 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Freewill is the freedom to do. Limitations caused by science and its elements cause an obstacle to some stuff and activities. So in nature, the freewill given only covers what you can do. So I think you are correct.
2007-03-31 10:02:26 · answer #9 · answered by hilder 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We have limited freedom because we are captured in a limited physical human body.
2007-03-31 08:16:23 · answer #10 · answered by vishw_paramaatmaa_parivaar 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋