In the recent discussion of fate and determination no one has,
so far as I have noticed, said anything about "Free Will."
But many of the doubts about determinism seem to be based on
the fact that if everything is determined, then we can't have
Free Will. (And, of course, if everything happens without a
cause, then Free Will couldn't cause anything to happen.)
The odd thing is that hardly anyone ever mentions that "Free
Will" was invented by St. Augustine in a desperate attempt
to reconcile God's omnipotence with our frequent damnation.
No concept like "Free Will" existed before then, nor does,
as far as I know, any such concept exist among any people
whose thought has not been influenced by Christian teachings
that espouse that incoherent idea.
This is not to say that one does not "will" things; it is
just to suggest that what one wills is as determined as
everything else is.
--
Peter D. Junger--Case Western Reserve University Law School--Cleveland,
OH
EMAIL: junger@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx URL: http://samsara.law.cwru.edu
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