Category: Philosophy

Fate Versus Free Will

Published on Sunday, 19 February 2012 02:47

Faelandaea

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The question of the path of life as guided by either fate or free will is one that has most likely either directly or indirectly crossed every person’s mind at some point of their adult life. You hear it almost every day. “It was his/her choice.” “It was fate.” Sometimes we say or hear these phrases and do not really take into account their impact or meaning. When one truly starts to think about the balance of fate and free will, it opens a lot of new doors for thought and guidance in where your life takes you.

To understand the views of fate and free will, we must first understand the definition of each. First we shall cover Fate. Fate has multiple meanings, but for the purposes of this topic, we shall stick to the philosophical definition:

1. Something that unavoidably befalls a person; fortune; lot: It is always his fate to be left behind.
2. The universal principle or ultimate agency by which the order of things is presumably prescribed; the decreed cause of events; time: Fate decreed that they would never meet again.
3. That which is inevitably predetermined; destiny: Death is our ineluctable fate.

As for free will, this is what the dictionary has to say:

1. Free and independent choice; voluntary decision: You took on the responsibility of your own free will.
2. Philosophy: The doctrine that the conduct of human beings expresses personal choice and is not simply determined by physical or divine forces.

In my view and opinion, there are three main categories of the believers of fate vs. free will. There are the dedicated believers of fate, which includes those who believe nothing is in your own control, and that fate controls everything in our lives. There are the dedicated believers of free will, who do not believe anything at all is controlled by other forces, and that we have complete control over all aspects of our lives. The last group is the group of balance, those who believe that there is a mixture of elements in life which you cannot control, along with elements you can control.

I fall within the group of balance. In my view, we cannot realistically control everything that happens to us, nor can we control every coincidental aspect that happens around us as we live. We can influence it. We might have the ability to alter some circumstances by the actions which we take, but we must choose to take those actions, which is where free will comes in.

We can use our free will to have an influence on how the powers of fate affect us. Fate and free will, in my mind, dance a dance of harmony and respect to each other. Sometimes a misstep by one side or the other can cause the dance to falter, causing a need for correction by one or both sides to restore the balance.

Fate and free will follows most people every moment of every day. The train approaching on the tracks about to smash the car that stalled out in the middle of the crossing. You are the driver and currently in the driver seat. You desperately try to start the vehicle but it just will not start. The train is getting very close now. You decide to jump from the vehicle and run to a safe distance as the train smashes your brand new Audi into a gazillion pieces. (I used Audi here just to spark the humor of a friend of mine who might be reading this. Sorry – I had to do it ~smirks~). As fate would have it, your car is lost. BUT, was it fate that you escaped? I believe that the answer to that would be “no”. Free will gave you the choice to stay and keep trying to get your car started or to jump to safety. You chose to leave that car. Nothing forced you to. You could have chosen to stay and the fate lovers would have said “Fate took his life. It was fate.” Yes, I agree the circumstances were created by fate, but the REACTION to those circumstances was still up to the driver, and that driver acted under free will to alter the ending result of his fate.

On the counter-balance, the free will lovers would argue that nothing in the above scenario was fate at all. They would argue that your free will put you on those tracks. You chose to drive that day. You chose not to fix that part that caused your car to fail later on. You chose this, you chose that and it led to the event that happened, therefore you somehow, freely and willingly, placed yourself in that situation. I, however, cannot logically condone this outlook any more than I would condone the outlook of fate being completely in control.

Free will may have played a role in this instance of fate. By free will, you chose to drive that day. By free will you may have somehow missed or overlooked a maintenance issue. By free will you chose the actions which led you to stalling out on those tracks. Fate, however, had a roll here as well. The resulting fate of your actions was that you stalled out on those tracks at the particular moment the crisis occurred.

As with all of my short articles, I welcome opinions, thoughts and constructive debate. Reply to this. Be open and honest, but DO NOT FLAME anyone else who replies or myself for that matter. We are all entitled to our opinion, but please feel free to use your free will to control anger and keep differences of opinion as civilized as possible. Thank you.

The Nature of the Universe

Published on Friday, 08 July 2011 13:14

Faelandaea

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The Nature of the Universe – This is a thought that has crossed the mind of every free thinking philosopher that has ever given our world a thought. Any time we wonder where we came from, usually the question goes beyond ourselves as an individual and ends up covering a more global curiosity concerning the universe around us.

I am personally an even balance between the spiritual and scientific worlds. A lot of people who know me understand that I am a Wiccan follow of my Goddess, and that I follow her guidance on most issues of my life. However I am also a believer that, spiritual manipulation or not, our universe has been formed gradually and steadily throughout the ages.

I do not claim to know whether or not Gods or Goddesses or even a single mighty creator had anything to do with the universe and how it was formed. I do support the idea of evolution and the idea that our universe has been formed through changes of chemical and mystical means alike. I also believe that the deities that we all believe in (or do not believe in, for the atheist audience reading this, which I respect as well) might not have so much created this universe but might have also been a part of its forming.

To ask if our universe has existed forever is a question I definitely cannot even begin to speculate on. Forever can have such a meaning to every different person who thinks about the meaning of such a frame of time. I do believe our universe is constantly changing, and that it is nowhere near like it was when it first came to be. If it has been around “forever” or not is a question I am certain we will never know in our mortal lifetimes. Who knows what knowledge we might get after we die, but in this plane of existence, “forever” is so infinite that comprehending a beginning to our universe is most likely going to remain an unanswered question.

The question of who made the universe, or how it was made, is one that tops my thought process whenever this subject comes up. As I stated before, I not only believe in scientific process, but spirituality as well. I do believe in the very high possibility that there is an almighty power out there that might be in control or at least played a major hand in the forming of our universe. This is definitely a personal belief of mine and by far no claim at all to “knowing” or being sure of the answer.

Another area we look at is the reality of this universe and our surroundings. Are the trees, stars, men, and women really “there”, or are they mere creations of our minds or of the mind of a god/goddess? I believe they are really there. A lot of HOW we see things is indeed the creation of our minds. Our perceptions are definitely different from one another. You and I can stare at the same chair and see it in different ways. But this question focuses on if the chair is there at all. People do hallucinate. It does happen. But an object that can be confirmed by MULTIPLE people at the same time, in my opinion, can be stated is actually there. But if you see the chair, but I do not, and other people do not, then that chair is a creation of your mind.

Our universe is made up of so many different forms of matter, anti-matter, texture, light, chemical processes and spiritual planes that I could not even begin to comprehend an answer to tell about what our universe is officially made up of. Matter has so many different forms that a generalization is almost impossible. Scientists now use words like “carbon” or “mass” or other general qualities that can relate to our current planet. But look at the size of the universe that surrounds us. We have verified we are not even a microbial speck compared to what is out there. We do not yet know all of the materials and types of physical products that are out there. So this is a question I think will be better highlighted upon if we, as a species, ever make it to a point where we can explore deep space in ships that can attain the speeds necessary to at least start to make our local galaxy a bit smaller to explore.

As with all of my philosophical posts, these are mere opinions of my own, and I will endeavor to be open minded to anything anyone else ever tells me about their own views on these subjects. I thank you for reading this (if you really have) and I look forward to your replies and personal opinions. Only together can we expand and explore more possibilities, so please post here if you are compelled to give thoughts on The Nature of the Universe.

Topics I Wish to Cover

Published on Wednesday, 15 June 2011 01:33

Faelandaea

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I will be covering the following subjects in philosophy in this journal as I have time to get my writings typed to the computer. I hope that you enjoy my views, but please be aware that these are MY OPINIONS ONLY, and that I am in no way trying to influence or change how you, the reader, think as an individual. I know a lot of philosophers try to convince and change the ideas of their readers and listeners. I am not like that. I merely wish you to know me as a person and one of the best ways to know me as a person is to know where I stand on the great areas of philosophy that have caused great controversy among free thinkers for ages.

OH! And please vote in the poll below on which subject you would like me to cover first.

Enjoy.

The Nature of the Universe

• The world in which you and I live was here long before us. How did it come to be?
• Was it all created or has it existed forever?
• Who or what made it? How was it made?
• Are the trees, stars, men, and women really “there”, or are they mere creations of our minds or of the mind of a god/goddess?
• How came this universe to be?
• And what is it made of?

Man’s Place in the Universe

• Is man the destined master of the universe, or is he a “worm of the dust”?
• What is the relation between man and the universe?
• Is man the center of the universe, the goal of all creation, or is he a mere incident of no insignificance than a speck of dust?
• Is the universe friendly, or unfriendly to man, or is it merely unconcerned?
• What is good and what is evil?
• What is the measure of good and evil in the world?
• How can we know whether or not an act is good or bad?
• Is there in the very nature of the universe a code of laws which determines good and bad?
• Or, is goodness and badness a matter of the relation of an act to other acts?

The Nature of God

• What is the nature of God, and how is he related to the universe?
• Is God a person, like man, but more ideal?
• Or is God a name for the force or forces which brought the universe into being and sustain it?
• Can the human mind know God, or is God so far above man that nothing can be known about him?
• What is God’s relation to us?
• NOTE: I am personally a WICCAN, so my writings on The Naure of God will be in retrospect from my personal views.

Fate versus Free Will

• Is man free to mould his own destiny, or is he a mere straw in the wind of fate?
• Do our ideals, hopes, acts, and wills mean anything in the universe?
• Is it true, as some hold, that we come from the unknown, are buffeted around by forces of which we have no control, and a last return to the unknown?

The Soul and Immortality

• Is death the end of known existence?
• Or is there more for man in a land beyond the grave?
• Can we find in man a soul, something distinct from his body, which can survive the event of death and live eternally?
• What can we believe about heaven or hell?

Man and the State

• Is society made for man or is man made for the society?
• Is the state a divine creation which man must not question, or is it a result of a “social construct” among men and subject to change when it no longer serves men?
• How do the rulers get their authority?
• Is revolution justifiable?
• Is totalitarianism or democracy correct?

Man and Education

• Why do we establish schools and pay for them?
• Is the fundamental purpose of education the training of obedient citizens of a totalitarian state, or is it the development of free man in a democracy?
• Shall the church or the state dominate the schools?
• What shall we teach in our schools?

Mind and Matter

• Is the universe actually just a great mind, or is it really matter throughout?
• Is matter mind or is mind matter? If it is mind and matter, what is the relation between the two?
• How can mind influence matter influence matter or matter influence mind?
• Have philosophers found a solution to he problem of the relationship between mind and matter?

Ideas and Thinking

• Whence came our ideas?
• Are they born with us and do they become conscious in time, or do we get them from sense experiences?
• Or does some god reveal them to us?
• What are the laws of thinking?
• How do thinkers of each age go about thinking?