Summary Of The Chapter 'Problems From Philosophy' By James Rachels
In chapter nine of the book “Problems from Philosophy”, by James Rachels, the author guides us through the topic over “The Debate over Free Will”. Throughout the chapter, we are informed what free will is, what it means to have free will, and if we actually have free will, the author provides us with arguments that help break down the argument on free will. These arguments consisted of the Determinist Argument, the Libertarian Response, the Compatibilist Response, and Ethics on free will.
This chapter is composed of arguments and responses that help us break down the topic of free will. According to Rachels, to have free will, your choices must be based off of your own desires, without any impute from anyone telling you what to do. The Determinist …show more content…
This is what it means to do something “of your own free will” (Rachels 116). I didn’t quite understand what free will really was until I read this statement, when I think of free will, I think about freedom, the freedom to do what I want, because that is what I want to do, there is just something inside me that tells what I want to do. What confused me was that sometimes I do things not out of desire, but just because I want to, does this mean that free will doest apply? “Illness. You mistreated your sister because you suffer from Capgras syndrome. This is a rare delusional disorder that makes people believe that someone they know has been replaced by an imposter. So, your behavior is not your fault” (Rachels 121). This was one of the excuses that really took my attention, because illness is an excuse I believe that is always being used these days. Someone shoots up a school, all of the sudden, they are diagnosed with an illness causing them to act the way they did, and therefore they are not responsible for what they did. Although illness may be a legitimate excuse at times, it is not always the right excuse when someone commits a serious crime and they really aren’t mentally or physically ill. I believe that they should be punished, because most of the time we do have free will, and we choose to commit these crimes on our own. “Think again of what you are
This chapter is composed of arguments and responses that help us break down the topic of free will. According to Rachels, to have free will, your choices must be based off of your own desires, without any impute from anyone telling you what to do. The Determinist …show more content…
This is what it means to do something “of your own free will” (Rachels 116). I didn’t quite understand what free will really was until I read this statement, when I think of free will, I think about freedom, the freedom to do what I want, because that is what I want to do, there is just something inside me that tells what I want to do. What confused me was that sometimes I do things not out of desire, but just because I want to, does this mean that free will doest apply? “Illness. You mistreated your sister because you suffer from Capgras syndrome. This is a rare delusional disorder that makes people believe that someone they know has been replaced by an imposter. So, your behavior is not your fault” (Rachels 121). This was one of the excuses that really took my attention, because illness is an excuse I believe that is always being used these days. Someone shoots up a school, all of the sudden, they are diagnosed with an illness causing them to act the way they did, and therefore they are not responsible for what they did. Although illness may be a legitimate excuse at times, it is not always the right excuse when someone commits a serious crime and they really aren’t mentally or physically ill. I believe that they should be punished, because most of the time we do have free will, and we choose to commit these crimes on our own. “Think again of what you are