Do humans act of their own free will, or is
everything that people do merely the result of universal causation? Are free
will and determinism compatible or incompatible? Does fate rule whether or not
free will exists? These questions are metaphysical because neither science nor
the techniques of formal logic can answer them once and for all. This is the
first principle of practical metaphysics. The second is that it is necessary in
life to adopt some metaphysical beliefs. The third is that some of these
beliefs have practical consequences for one's life. Free will conforms to the
second principle, because everyone takes a stand on the question. However, not
all metaphysical beliefs have practical consequences, so we must examine each
case as it comes up.
Believing in the existence of free will
clearly does have practical consequences. Believers are willing to accept
responsibility for their actions. They think that their choices matter. The
future is not a foregone conclusion. Praise and blame lose their grip if a
person “cannot help” acting in a certain way. Another consequence is that such
people will be less likely to blame others or circumstances for their own
mistakes. Still another is that belief in free will supports an optimistic
attitude. It makes sense of trying to do better, believing the future is open,
and that it is actually possible to improve.
Does the belief in determinism have
practical consequences? Perhaps. If it turns out that the truth of universal
causation determines human actions, and if actions can be reduced to physical
actions and chemical processes, then it is indeed true that all my actions will
be determined in advance by antecedent causes. What difference would the truth
of this assertion make to how I live my life? We are unable to know the entire
antecedent universe. Whether or not it is true that the future is determined in
advance, the future is opaque to us. We learn from experience what happens
regularly in different circumstances, all things being equal. However, we
cannot know if all things are equal in any particular case. Hence, we might be
excused for thinking that a belief in metaphysical determinism makes no
difference to the life of an agent.
Is this the whole story? Might it be
possible to use a belief in determinism as a universal excuse for one's
actions? If my body and body chemistry move along with the universal causal
nexus regardless of what I think, plan, feel or do, then what do my choices and
reasons mean? Can I, therefore, abdicate
my responsibility along with my free will by adopting a thorough-going
metaphysical determinism? Or, does my ignorance of determining conditions make
it impossible for me to give up my sense that I am responsible for my choices
and actions?
If believing in determinism is a way to
deny personal responsibility, then accepting it has practical consequences. It
is an approach to life. Perhaps it would
be better here to speak of the attitude of fatalism rather than universal
determinism. With fatalism we can accept that we have to make choices, but
believe that no matter what choices we make, our fate is sealed. Think of
Somerset Maugham's old story about the man who met the person of Death in
Cairo, ran for his life to Samara, only to find Death waiting for him there,
saying “When I saw you in Cairo, I thought you might be late for our our date
in Samara, but here you are.” It was fate.
Fatalism is the view that what will be,
will be, and nothing can change that. Might not taking on this view turn a
person into a quietest who lives a still and passive life? Perhaps, if one believes
in fate, one will not struggle against it. A clear literary example of this is
described in Richard Adam's epic rabbit adventure, Watership Down. At one point, Hazel and the other rabbits who
are striking out to find a new home, run into a tribe of rabbits who live a
well fed and pleasant life. However, they are taken for the pot one by one. All
these rabbits know that one day they will be taken, but they do no know what
that day will be. So they spend their time writing poetry and putting on tragic
dramas, waiting quiescently for their individual ends. Hazel discovers what is
going on and offers them a chance to escape. The 'artistic' rabbits turn down
the offer by saying that their lives are their fate and they are resigned to
it.
Perhaps
there is another way, too, that belief in fate might affect one's approach to
life. There is a scene in Johnson's “Rasselas” in which the hero meets a
scientist who is weighed down by his conviction that he controls much of the
weather and brings up the sun each morning from the top of his observatory. He
is cured when he realizes that it is all a fantasy in his head. Finding out
that something is not within one's own power can be a relief. Responsibility is a heavy burden that can be
laid down when one finds that the issue is out of one's control. If we combine
that with the idea of God's providence, we have a source of consolation as
well. I conclude that believing in free will or fatalism has practical
consequences for the life of the believer, and thus falls within the subject
matter of practical metaphysics.
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