Everything is as it is because of freewill, not because of an Essay

Everything is as it is because of freewill, not because of an omniscient God (Philososphy paper) - Essay Example I will argue that the soft determinist view of freedom is the most plausible, for not only does it take into account moral responsibility, but it also provides an explanation for a person’s free actions. Compatibilism is the view that claims that every action has a causal explanation, yet we have freedom to act upon them. Moreover, for a compatibilist, â€Å"a free action is one that is caused by the person’s beliefs and desires, provided that those beliefs and desires flow from who the person is† (Sider 130). So if all causal relationships have specific laws that govern them, how can there be freedom? Sider tells us that â€Å"a free action is one that is caused in the right way† (127). Similarly, an action is free if the agent â€Å"could have done otherwise† (Ayer 2). Take for instance the following example: I drink alcohol as a result of my own choice. So my act of drinking alcohol is voluntary. Furthermore, my choice is not due to peer pressure . So the immediate cause of my choice must be internal to me. Now while I was walking to the nearest bar to get a drink, I bumped into a friend of mine who asked me if I wanted to go and watch a movie. I could have gone with my friend if I really did not want a drink. So I would have acted otherwise had I chosen to, but I did not, so my action is caused the right way. Herein, my actions are caused but are free, for I could have done otherwise, had I chosen to do so. ... Consider the following example: I got up in the morning, but because I felt tired, I went back to sleep for a while. Then I heard someone knocking and so I got up from bed, not knowing that I was running late for school already. Rushing to leave the house, I packed my bags and got dressed. Since the school bus already had gone ahead. I had to walk to school. Suddenly, while I was walking, someone snatched my knapsack from my shoulders. The snatcher was too quick that I did not even bother chasing him. When I got to school, I rushed in my philosophy class. At that time, my professor was collecting our final take home exams, so he did not notice me coming in late, but when he asked for my exam, I told him it was stolen. But it was no use. I failed for my finals. An hour later, I was called by the principal, it was my mom, she’s been trying to call me since I left home because she heard that a young boy got run over by a car. According to the newscaster, the young boy was me, as shown in the school identification card in the bag of the victim. Of course, my mom knew that it could not be me but she still got worried that my bag was found with the victim. Given the circumstances, am I responsible for the death of the young boy? How about my failure in class? Was it my fault that my bag got stolen? A hard determinist would respond by saying that it is not my fault, since I had no control over what transpired. It was an effect of a prior event that could not have been done otherwise. Thus, we have no freedom and responsibility over circumstances such as this. A libertarian on the other hand would answer me that it is my fault since I made a free choice of going back to sleep this morning. Had I not done willed the act, then I wouldn’t have lost my

Second Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Second Life - Essay Example No doubt, it has a significant meaning for businesses and economy today. Second Life is more user centred, where the user is no more a person operating and navigating from outside but can get in and be themselves yet control the environment in SL. It is built on Web 2.0 which a decade old technology that still getting the attention of developers. It brought about major changes in the website development and World Wide Web. For example, wikis and blogs would not have been possible without this technology. They allow their users to create their own content, and to customize the page (O’Reilly, 2005). In Second Life, teens can create and customize a digital self called an "avatar," fly through an ever-changing 3D landscape, chat and socialize with other teens from all over the world, and build anything from skyscrapers to virtual vehicles. It’s a boundless world of surprise and adventure that encourages teens to work together and use their imaginations (Teen Second Life, n.d.) Also, SL depends on â€Å"user –created content†; the software is â€Å"open source† (Watte & Macedonia, 2009). Second life has similar attributes like any other synthetic learning environment with a few improvements like enabling the users to create their own content, edit and control the environment. Web 2.0 technologies are about participation, convergence, interaction, usability and data driven (Kemp, 2009). These are just a speck of the whole lot of features of Web 2.0 that SL exploits to create a virtual world. This new technology addresses the growing requirement for more open and interactive online virtual worlds. SL is a successor of one of the popular virtual worlds of the 90’s- Active Worlds. With the help of Web 2.0 technologies, SL offers user controlled options and allows the user to get immersed in the virtual world. This is the