The Importance Of Free Will

Free Will Free will is clearly an ontological issue, but it is rooted in the metaphysical nature of reality. We should study free will because it is theologically significant and because many people assume a particular definition of free will that is incorrect. Studying free will is challenging because it is not defined in Scripture. Further, it is complex because it connects too many other larger theological issues; it intersects with philosophy, historical theology, and systematic theology. At the outset, it is necessary to get a clear understanding of what exactly "free will" is. A being has free will if given all other causal factors in the universe it nevertheless possesses the ability to choose more than one thing. The word freedom …show more content…
One reason to deem this insufficient is that it is consistent with the goal-directed behavior of some animals whom we do not suppose to be morally responsible agents. Indeed, it is plausible that they have little by way of a self-conception as an agent with a past and with projects and purposes for the future. Arguments about free will are mostly semantic arguments about definitions. Most experts who deny free will are arguing against peculiar, unscientific versions of the idea, such as that free will means that causality is not involved. These arguments leave untouched the meaning of free will that most people understand which is consciously making choices about what to do in the absence of external coercion, and accepting responsibility for one’s actions. Hardly anyone denies that people engage in logical reasoning and self-control to make …show more content…
Choice is an action, so there has to be an actor. Our mind - the totality of our mental processes, does the choosing. In particular, it is that aspect of our mind that is aware of the "self" that recognizes and monitors freewill choices. We choose to think or not, what to think about, how much and how long to concentrate on an issue, how many options to consider, which of the options to select, etc. We also make higher level choices of goals and values, such as desirable character traits, careers, friends and lovers, and of course, moral decisions such as when to lie or tell the truth. Freewill comprises conscious choices only. By definition, freewill pertains to choices that we can monitor and influence, and therefore must exclude subconscious and unconscious choices. This does not mean that such unaware choices are ultimately beyond our control - beyond freewill - but only that they must be controlled indirectly. We can control them through explicit change of values and beliefs, and through conscious modification of