Since my acts are caused by my choices and my choices are caused by my beliefs and desires and my beliefs and desires are not in my direct control, how can it be that my acts are free?
2007-08-03 10:39:37 · 28 answers · asked by ☆Zestee☆ 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
BTW, just a question I came across. Not neccessarily my belief.
2007-08-03 10:59:37 · update #1
great question!
I agree ones beliefs and desires are based on ones make up and learned inputs. They are all from the past. One makes decisions out of ones capacity and that capacity is pretty much predetermined by ones DNA and environment. No human can change that.
your acts are not free per say. They are only as far as what your past have made you. You can't change the past but past is all you have that leads to your present and future.
2007-08-03 10:43:42 · answer #1 · answered by NYBHC 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Contrary to what many may think, your beliefs and desires are under your control. You can believe something but then find information that supports believing something different; at that point you have a choice to either stick with what you believe because you believe it or change your belief in light of the new evidence. Many people are unwilling to change their beliefs even when the evidence is overwhelming but that doesn't mean they cannot. A good example of this is Santa Clause... when I was young, I believed in Santa, but I grew older and the evidence showed that he wasn't real at all, so I changed my belief to Santa being a story.
Also, your choices can go against your beliefs, and often times it's harder to choose what you believe in than what would be easy. For this example we'll use a Nun... she believes that it is wrong to lie, but when asked if she enjoyed Mother Superior's Chicken Surprise for dinner, she very well might say yes, thus choosing to tell a lie.
You can choose to do whatever but you weigh that choice with your desires and your beliefs (which can sometimes be in conflict) and ultimately the choice is based on the expected consequences. So your acts are free to choose, but not of consequence!
2007-08-03 10:59:37 · answer #2 · answered by Frank N Furter 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The whole point of life is to learn. So, it is true that in the beginning of learning we rely on our parents, when they are wrong so is the child.
When we grow up, hopefully, ones parents instilled the idea that one needs to learn for oneself and not believe a thing that anybody tells them. That today does not happen to be how we in America raise our children.
We, as a society, seem think that we are suppose to get up and go to work 9 to 5 for 20, 30 or 40 years of our lives, get credit so we can keep society functioning, so accumulating debt is taught as good and we are also teaching our children it's OK to get what we want no matter what the cost to the rest of the world. All this, because as a society in general we do not ask the tough questions and then when we do we don't like the answers.
Truth fluctuates as the waves on the ocean, and like the waves on the ocean we are all interconnected. Your beliefs are based on the society you interact with. Your job should you chose, is to figure out what is your truth. So, yes you are free to find out for yourself and chose.. Believe me you wouldn't be the first to chose to just ignore the whole thing. You are in right country for that. Just keep up what your doing. After all man is so smart, he must go on forever, right?. Wasn't he put here to conquer all? Isn't man God's ultimate creation? There could be none other higher than Man! And as such there can be nothing better than Man? And you know how man knows this, because he can destroy everything about him.
Man is the animal that annihilates and destroys his own environment.
What a brilliant creature!
No wonder God only allowed one animal to be able to comprehend Him. And we are so lucky that it is our species. Isn't the rest of the universe blessed by our Being?
2007-08-03 11:04:23 · answer #3 · answered by repstat 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your premise is flawed, in that your beliefs and desires are under your direct control. Where did you get the idea that your acts are free? You are subject to Gods Law and Mans Law. Break any of them and you may pay the consequences. We are all responsible for our actions. As for desires not being in your control, let me quote Billy Grahams late wife. She spoke to a group of young people at a youth camp, one summer in North Carolina. She was speaking about "lust". A subject we were all interested in. She said" you cannot keep the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair". The wrong thoughts will come, but you do not have to act on them.
2007-08-03 10:50:05 · answer #4 · answered by loufedalis 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Lots of unproven premises in your thinking: Beliefs and desires are completely in your control. YOu choose what makes the most sense to you. If it stops making sense, you are free to choose something else. Also I don't think that choices are always caused by beliefs and desires. Very often my choices are caused by brand-new information I get and a purely intellectual reason.
2007-08-03 10:44:05 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Sounds like a manipulation of reality like "the devil made me do it". Your acts are influenced by your beliefs and desires but you still have control. Just cause I want to kill my step mother(desire) I know it's wrong and there are CONSEQUENCES to my actions. Maybe animals think the way you described but humans shouldn't.
2007-08-03 10:53:33 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Just think about it... Your beliefs are in your control... desires...?.. .well, maybe not as much control, but YOU are the one that makes a conscious decision whether or not to act on your desires. You are completely free to choose what to do.
2007-08-03 10:45:12 · answer #7 · answered by Nardoff 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Why are your beliefs and desires not in your direct control? I think people choose what they want to believe and what they want to have...it's not something imposed upon a person (or shouldn't be)....
2007-08-03 10:42:21 · answer #8 · answered by christine_ 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
But your beliefs and desires ARE in your direct control!
2007-08-03 10:42:30 · answer #9 · answered by Native Spirit 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
What makes you think your beliefs and desires are not in your control?
2007-08-03 10:43:29 · answer #10 · answered by daisyk 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋