Essays on Determinism

The Prussian philosopher Karl Marx (1818-1883) is considered one of the most influential thinkers of the 19th century (History Guide, n. pag.). In the mid-19th century, Marx and German philosopher Friedrich Engels (1820-1895) founded Marxism, a body of thought that emphasizes the important role of class struggle in understanding society’s development from capitalism to a…

The perception of life can influence our reactions to situations and interactions with others. While I believe that studying philosophy alone may not directly impact my lifestyle, delving into specific philosophies can profoundly transform my perspective. Life is a distinct aspect of being that we, as humans and other living beings, are conscious of. The…

William James (1) argued that determinism leads us to view our judgments of regret as wrong because they imply that something impossible should still occur. However, I disagree and will present an argument against James, asserting that determinism does not absolve humans of moral responsibility. To begin, I will provide a brief explanation of determinism….

The debate between Determinism and Free will has long been discussed, but while debating both of these subjects there must be an understanding as to what both mean, unfortunately the meaning of both are not as straight forward as first thought. The idea that we always could do otherwise than we do is often thought…

In a situation with more than one realistically possible choice of about equal likelihood, for example: “about face, via turning left” and “about face, via turning right” given that I chose one way, I could have chosen the other. Or, in the thought experiment of being able to repeat this act ten times, all else…

Question 3: If Blatchford’s deterministic view is correct, does it follows that it is pointless to punish (or praise) people for what they do? Can you think of any justification for punishment that is compatible with hard determinism? Blatchford’s deterministic view presents another method or perspective of reviewing the responsibility of human behaviors. It focused…

Free will is something that has been debated through generations of philosophers. We have opinions of philosophers that range from believing that free will is free in nature and cannot be constrained, to free will being something that is pre-determined. With the presence of free will, we are in control of our lives and we…