The Truth In Hard Determinism Philosophy Essay

The Truth In Hard Determinism Philosophy Essay Over the years the problem of free will versus determinism has been a phenomena to philosophers for many years. It has been a huge issue, because without the presence of free will there cannot be morality, no wrong or right, no good or evil. Everyones behavior would be determined before hand and people would have no creativity or choice. Everything one does on a daily basis in ones life somehow involves the process of decision making or choice selection, whether it be mental or physical. From the moment one wakes up to the second one sleeps, decisions and choices are being made. There are some decisions that one makes that are extremely obvious to oneself because of the need of reflecting on the choices before choosing. But most of the decisions one makes throughout the day are made with little thought. Furthermore, many people are mostly unaware that they are making decisions because of preference and habituation. Before continuing further, the terms free will, and determinism must be defined. Free will is the idea that an individual is free to make decisions that are unhindered by external forces. Whereas determinism states that the conditions of a specific moment are the result of from the previous conditions of previous moments. The position that this paper encourages is that of hard determinism. The general hard determinist believes that no human action is free. Paul Holbach was a hard determinist philosopher who wrote an article called The illusion of Free Will. In it he explained how everything one does is caused by things that is beyond ones control. Generally speaking , people are motivated to pursue pleasure and avoid pain, but people cannot help what gives them pain or pleasure. No matter what one does, the endless chain of causes and effects leads ones doing is inevitable. An important example that Holbach used was the poisoned water. It demonstrated that whatever one does they do it for a reason, and that these reasons are simple changes that the brain makes which determines what one chooses to do. Since one cannot control the changes in the brain that causes one to choose what one chooses, then that would mean that no one cannot control their own actions. Hard determinism also gives a more rational perspective of humans and their choices. It focuses on the causes instead of the instant causes for ones actions. Also the implications of being determined are taken more seriously, and it does not make one responsible for the decisions one makes because they are beyond the individuals control. Furthermore, hard determinism tries to take into fact of how people feel that they are free when they really are not. Halbach believed that the main cause of why people think that they make their own decisions is because they are ignorant to the cause and effect chain that determines their behaviors. The motives and causes are just too complex for people to understand them. People do not also naturally question where the causes behind their choices come from, which gives humans the idea of having free will. Moreover, hard determinism has many advantages to it. It could be helpful in courts of law and in the legal system, that is when it would be most convincing . A person who maybe standing on trial may use hard determinism as a defense by stating that the individuals actions were caused by events that occurred in the past which were ultimately beyond the persons control. If hard determinism is successfully persuasive in court, then it should be accepted that both free will and determinism are incompatible. However hard determinism does have its flaws. While soft determinism views that humans are unique, because they possess free will; hard determinism refutes humans that important component that makes humans distinctly different form animals. Humans are also no more free than robots. In addition, it would be wrong to punish a criminal, because they just could not help it; and that would ultimately lead to an unstable society filled with mayhem and troubles. Ultimately hard determinism argues that humans may feel free but it is nothing but a mere illusion, and some people would argue against this and believe that it is free of choice. Continuing on the pros of the hard determinist view, libertarianism brought up many new points to the argument. Libertarianism was about the idea that humans are all free and that free will is not compatible with determinism. Libertarians argue that because one can easily create ones choices it gives one libertarian free will, and that ones choices in the future are undetermined. Furthermore libertarianism has far too many problems and disadvantages. The first disadvantage is that there is scientific data and empirical evidence that proves that humans are psychologically and scientifically determined,(this discovery was made by Skinner, who was also a hard determinist). It is through classical conditioning that human behavior is a response to the stimuli an individual is in or exposed to. Thus, ones decisions are caused the external environment around that certain individual which accounts for ones choice. Eventually, once the psychological evidence is shown, such as operant conditioning and scientific determinism, it becomes a challenge to see how humans are not determined, and that leaves little room for the libertarian perspective to prosper. One other argument against the libertarian perspective of free will and determinism is the explanation that everything has a cause. Where in the natural free word everything that exists is ca used by something; and equivalently ones choices has to have causes and determinism. However a hard determinist philosopher by the name of T. Honderich who wrote an article called A defense of Hard Determinism, disagreed with the libertarian view. He believed that the human mind must be determined, and that the mind should not be separate from the rest of the body, as it has been demonstrated that the mind highly dependent on physical brain activity. Finally, the criticism above has shown that libertarianism is unconvincing and has many poke able holes, as libertarians believe that the mind is in charge of making ones decisions. Ultimately, there are many perspectives that are related to the question of free will being either compatible with determinism or it being incompatible with determinism. From the evidence presented within this paper, hard determinism is the most consistent theory to follow when it comes to the question of free will and determinism. This is because a choice t hat is not under ones control must be determined by something else; and that certain something according to Holbach is either an external or internal force that drives every human being to make certain decisions. Even though it is hard to accept, Holbach explains that humans must accept it because it is the truth. Humans are not free to choose their actions.

All Quiet On The Western Front :: essays research papers

All Quiet on the Western Front, directed by Delbert Mann, is based on the novel written by Erich Maria Remarque. It tells the story of a German schoolboy, Paul Baumer, and a group of his classmates, who journey from fantasies of heroic glory to the real horror of actual soldiering. Their journey is a coming of age tale that centers on the consternation of war and emphasizes the moral, spiritual, emotional, and physical deterioration suffered by the young soldiers. Paul Baumer is a 19-year-old volunteer to the German army during World War I. He and his classmates charge fresh out of high school into military service, hounded by the nationalist ranting of a feverish schoolmaster, Kantorek. Though not all of them want to enlist, they do so in order to save face. Their first stop is boot camp, where life is still laughter and games. â€Å"Where are all the medals?† asks one. â€Å"Just wait a month and I’ll have them,† comes the boisterous response. This is their last vestige of boyhood. War slowly begins to strip away the ideals these boy-men once cherished. Their respect for authority is torn away by their disillusionment with their schoolteacher, Kantorek who pushed them to join. This is followed by their brief encounter with Corporal Himmelstoss at boot camp. The contemptible tactics that their superior officer Himmelstoss perpetrates in the name of discipline finally shatters their respect for authority. As the boys, fresh from boot camp, march toward the front for the first time, each one looks over his shoulder at the departing transport truck. They realize that they have now cast aside their lives as schoolboys and they feel the numbing reality of their uncertain futures. After their first two days of fighting, they return to their bunker, where they find neither safety nor comfort. A grizzled veteran, Kat, suggests these ‘fresh-faced boys’ should return to the classroom. The war steals their spiritual belief in the sanctity of human life with every man that they kill. This is best illustrated by Paul’s journey from anguish to rationalization of the killing of Gerard Duval; the printer turned enemy who leaps into the shell-hole already occupied by Paul. Paul struggles with the concept of killing a â€Å"brother†, not the enemy. He weeps despondently as war destroys his emotional being. War destroys Paul and his friends. Those who physically survive the bombing, the bullets and bayonets are annihilated by physical attacks on their sanity.

Corning Z

Corning -Z- Glass Corning Glass Works was a leader corporation in the development of glass and ceramic products. After so many years of success Z-Glass was facing decline in the yields at the Harrisburg Plant. Trying to find the problem and a solution for it, a group of engineers from the (M&E) was assigned to the plant in December 1977 under the leadership of Eric Davidson. Davidson’s Team were faced with a lot of challenges and a tens relationship accord in some department between team and line personnel, due to the fear that the team will cause the line personnel to lose their jobs. There were so many reasons that could cause the yield to decline . T. V Tube casing was corning’s most successful product and RCA ( a major Corning customer) opened it own plant to make glass funnels and front plates , and some of Cornering experienced employees went to work to RCA taking all the important information with them . Thomas MacAvov President of the company noticed that a poor job had been done in transferring the products from the lab into production . Most of the responsibility of this transfer fell on Untried M&E Division . David Leibson VP of M&E chose Eric Davidson to lead the Harrisburg project. Davidson started selecting members of the M&E team in the first weeks. he started with choosing four . Davidson used the receivership approach , every solution has to be accepted by the plant, they have to rally own the changes. If I was in the position of David leibson I think this approach is a really good one, as these are the people who are going to work on the project and communication between the managers and the plant. Andrew MacTavish was the Harrisburg plant manager ,he was a man known as a champion of the little people . MacTavish came to conflict with Eric Davidson , for the conflict of interest. Davidson should try to convince the plant of his way in more flexible approach . he should let the know that they will not lose their jobs . documenting the presses is something that should be done in order to pass the knowledge to all the coming technicians and engineers. All way communication should be influenced .

North Americas Comparative Advantage - 1458 Words

On October 13, 2015, the Universal Corporation hosted the 21st annual International Business Forum in the University Student Commons Ballroom, which was sponsored by the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Business every year when the forum is organized. The International Business Forum has been established by VCU in 1994 with the support of both private and public organizations from Richmond and Central Virginia. Each year, the forum has been supported through generous grants from the Universal Corporation. The purpose of this forum is to make students, faculty and the Virginia community more aware of global commerce and related international forces that make our world better. This year, which is also their third decade of hosting the forum, four panelists were on stage to this discuss the theme of this year’s forum â€Å"North America’s Comparative Advantage†. The overall purpose of the forum is to discuss why and how U.S., Canada and Mexico should enhan ce their alliance to meet the Asian and European challenges of the 21st century. Van R. Wood, Ph.D, the moderator of the forum, started the event off by welcoming everyone that attended. Van R. Wood is an International Marketing professor at VCU and the Philip Morris Endowed Chair in International Business. His teachings, research, and consulting focus on globalization and the selection and development of international markets has earned him many grants to develop international programs and has earned him manyShow MoreRelatedNorth American Free Trade Agreement981 Words   |  4 Pagesand Mexico struck gold with when they implemented the North American Free Trade Agreement, better known as, â€Å"NAFTA†. The use of NAFTA is in America’s best interest because, it benefits U.S. jobs, improves trade relations, promoted specialization of trade. 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