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Define Freewill

As the title says.

I can't really give my own definition of freewill right now because, well Iâ??m not to sure how to take it, and it has quite a few different definitions, especially within the theology realm of philosophy.

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then why ask if the answer has already be defined by so many others? do you need someone to explain it in more detail to you? take from all and draw your own conclusions. You have the freewill to think what you choose, dont you?

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Quote:

then why ask if the answer has already be defined by so many others? do you need someone to explain it in more detail to you? take from all and draw your own conclusions. You have the freewill to think what you choose, dont you?

I'm not so much looking for an answer (for myself) as much as I am looking for answers from others, simply because it's a very interesting topic.

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People without self-doubt scare me.
The world is my country, science is my religion. - Christiaan Huygens
“Don’t take refuge in the false security of consensus.�

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well like i said it's already been defined. all you are asking folks to do is repeat the definitions in there own words, silly, really.
http://www.answers.com/topic/free-will?method=6
this is good enough for my input.... ;-)

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If it can't be repeated, don't say it.

Hmm... from a personal viewpoint, I would say it is "the ability to make a decision", but on most debatable grounds, that definition may be insufficient.

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When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative. - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Normally I define free will as the ability of making decisions which do not depend on circumstances or forces outside of the own consciousness and are not determined beforehand, meaning that there are several possibilities how the consciousness might decide from a causality viewpoint.

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Welcome back. Haven't seen you around lately (maybe because I haven't really been around myself).

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When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative. - Martin Luther King, Jr.

free will is fake. we all have a path to which our lives follow. this path is predetermined, the only thing you need be concirned with is the way in which you travel your path.

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yeah i did it

Last edited by thatpassivekid, September 16th, 2005 01:07 AM (Edited 1 times)

If the way that you travel in your predetermined path is not predetermined, then there is such a thing as free will. Either everything is already set and you have no control or nothing is predetermined and you are in control. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

Free will is a nice thing to believe in. It is certainly more comforting than the idea that we have no control over ourselves or our surroundings, and everything happens in predictable ways. I would prefer it if free will is real, but I don't think I would really know a difference anyway.

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It makes sense to define free will as the ability to make decisions. Whether or not such a thing exists is a matter of opinion and viewpoint.

Personally, I choose to believe that I have free will; although the consequences of acting however I wish could be negative. In respect to having our "paths" predetermined, I do not believe this to be the case. The concepts of fate and destiny rely on proving the existence of a higher power, something that cannot be done. I would agree that how we walk our path is more important than the end result, but the idea that we have no control over the direction we take seems like cliché cynicism.

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