The [A] so-called problem with free will is that we have this notion of being able to do things while under the control of nothing. The problem with this however is that one is constantly being controlled [influenced] by some "thing[(s)]".
We are slaves to our rationality, and in a sense we are. We are slaves to the self. However, this is a sort of slavery that does not exclude freedom. It is my goal to show that we, as human beings, are in fact determined and in possession of a will that deserves the title of free. Key to an understanding of the freedom of will is understanding that humans are only free when they are capable of fulfilling those potentials which human existence allows. There are particular things, which Man is incapable of. This lack of ability does not suggest a hindrance of the will but merely shows that those things I am capable of are merely things, which I already have the potential to do. If I was to will my ability to fly, and I do not fly, that does not mean that I am somehow not free to fly. What this means is that I, as a human, do not have the potential to fly. Things, which actually exist, are incapable of achieving states for which a potentiality does not exist in that thing. Things that exist are not capable of actualizing a state, which has not already existed potentially. Since I do not have the potential to fly I will not have the actual ability to fly. Man is restricted in actions to those things, which already exist potentially in Man himself. This is what Kant meant by saying that Man is a slave to his Reason and yet not a slave on face.
Basically saying that by actualizing our ability to Reason we are merely taking a state, which already exists in us, and are actualizing that state. Furthermore, Reason controls [influences] us and in this sense we are not free of Reason and are determined to never escape the bounds of Reason. To me freedom is the ability to freely obtain those states which already exist potentially for me. If for, some reason, I was to be hindered from actualizing a state which for me exists then that hindrance would in essence be a restriction on my will. Furthermore, I am a created thing. Things, which are created, have preset programs by which they operate. Freedom is the ability to run your program with the least amount of flaws possible. This is merely a variation of the potentiality argument and both merely state the same inherent truth. Metaphysical freedom of the will is the ability to both run our innate programs and to actualize the potentialities associated with our existence [to pilot or steer, to make choices].
When you build a clock you are God [God-like as a creator, or co-creator]. You establish the program that the clock is to run and furthermore you create the potential states that the clock can actualize. The essence of the clock is to operate in the way it was designed. The clock is incapable of operating any other way or use any other faculties which have not been given to the clock at the instance of creation. [Funny how some attribute life to things when they act seemingly outside of their programs. I have wondered just how much of mind is not housed within our physical bodies...] In a perfect environment one would say that the clock is free if it is capable of fulfilling its purpose (in this case the purpose is to be a clock). [Funny how some attribute life to things when they act seemingly outside of their programs.] You do not say a clock is not free because it is incapable of being a house. And the reason for this is because the clock does not posses the potential state of the house. Furthermore the creator did not program in the ability to be a house. But for all intent and purposes a clock is free when it fulfills its true nature of clock-hood. The same is true of Man regardless of one's beliefs of creation.
The only prerequisite would be a belief in a creation (regardless by what means).
By being created we are determined to run the programs established by our creator. This program establishes the bounds we work within. All our potentialities exist because the program allows for them. We are not able to fly because the creator did not program in this ability and because it was not programmed we are not able to actualize the potential to fly (because that potential does not exist). Our freedom comes from our ability to fulfill those potentialities which we are pre-programmed with. If for example I were to be put in jail then I would not be free [not be as free] and my will would be hindered. The reason for this is that while I am in prison I am not able to actualize [some of] those states that exist potentially in me and thus do not have [as much] free will.
The one [A] major counter argument, which arises from this argumentation, is that technically we cannot call ourselves free if we are running on a program and are only capable of actualizing pre-existing potentialities. [There is self-programming, humanism.] This is an ignorant concern that arises from a lack of understanding in the principle.
Understand the principle by realizing that we are determined to be reasonable and yet are not slaves to it since it is our essence. One does not usually call the essence of a thing a hindrance of that same thing. I am not hindered by my ability to walk even though it is something that is determined. A weird yet precise way to say this is to say that I am not non-free due to my predetermined ability to not be able to choose to not walk. However this counter argument poses the second part of the formula. Namely the characteristic determinism associated with created systems.
All systems which are created are inherently determined. This is basically due to the fact that a created system is determined by those things which do the creating [perhaps on an intent level]. The clock is determined by the acts of the human doing the creating. The same is true of Man. Man is the product of a creation that established for us potential states, which we can actualize. In this way we are determined. Determined in the sense that the only states capable of being actualized are those states which had previously been created by the "creator". These states include every potentiality including mental states, physical states, and every state associated with our program. So when we are using our Reason we are merely actualizing a determined state the program allows for. It is the essence of freedom not to be hindered from actualizing those potentials already existing in a given system.
[I believe we each have free will, but limits upon our choices and abilities, and that there are forces over which we have no control that can impact our lives. I have pictured that we are pilots of boats, but the condition of our boat and things like currents and winds and whatever else might be out there we might have little to no control over. But we can still steer.
[One could look at time as a continuum, perhaps as a twisted cube in a shape of a triple eight, infinity, being all sides on one side (if you tape a model together right). We are in a spot, and can move to another spot. Perhaps what happens in certain spots is predestined perhaps our DNA resonates the spot of our galactic orbit we are in... And there are probably limits as to how we can move from one spot to another, and how far at one time but we still retain a measure of free will as reflected by our ability to make choices.[And, in the neither here nor there, free will is a factor in karmic flows.]
-- xoxo Ashley
