Do We Have Free Will or Not?
14.07.2020 | Lal Kavcar
gembaakademi.com
Do We Have Free Will or Not?
Do people have free will or not? In the text “Do We Have Free Will ? ” Seth Schwartz (2013) argued whether humans have free will or not in terms of psychology and human behaviours . Writer be lieves that there is an uncertainty between reality and illusion about human’s free will. Firstly, he supports that psychology can find how free will can work in detail, but also it cannot confirm or invalidate existence. Secondly, when the subject is examined in terms of neuropsychology, the author thinks that free will is affected by both the brain and the environmental factors .Lastly, when the writer argues the main subject in terms of law , say that our free will must be stand trial because hes upports we are responsible for all the behaviour we do against the law. I partially agree with the writer. A writer says that free will is affected by both environmental conditions and the biology but in my opinion it is not. When the subject is examined only in terms of psychology and law , I think like a writer and support that we have free will and weare responsible for our decisions.
I do not agree with the idea that Schwartz (2013) supports partially some of researchers s aid “free will” is determined by our biology, or environment or both . Environment al factors and biology do not affect our will as much as our brain. Some researches have shown us that the brain has somehow the ability to maked ecisions and guide us . The brain sends commands to us before when we decide to do something voluntarily. The brain starts the process in this voluntary action long before the activation of the muscle that produces the movement (Libet ,1999). Another argument that a writer and neuroscientists say that environmental factors play a role in human life, so environmental factors affect people’s free will, which affects people’s behaviour. From my point of view , brain and emotional, psychological conditions affect our free will rather than environmental factors . Environmental conditions can be ignored or changed, but human psychology has a more dominant effect on human behaviour and ability of free will . Behaviours are very strongly influenced by the feelings . There are to numerous ways that feelings can influence behaviour. when somebody feels disappointed, he or she acts on that dissatisfaction by saying terrible things to his parents or somebody else. We can easily understand that the relationship between behaviour and emotions , the numerous ways that feelings can impact our conduct, through motivation and aggression (Jeffers on , Missouri, 2016). As a result, we have seen in the above examples that the brain has the ability to make decisions and that we can act according to our emotions. I do not agree with the author because I believe these two factors are stronger than environmental effects .
In the text, the writer considers about if we do not have ability of choose how can we stand trial against law (Schwartz,2013) . I absolutely agree with the writer on this subject. Who will be responsible for our behaviour if we do not make the decision? People with mental and psychological problems do not have a criminal responsibility. Studies have shown that most people with mental problems are not sentenced to judicial punishment under the law of the country (Appelbaum & Gutheil, 2007). But everyone else is responsible for all the behaviours that he / she decides and applies in the life except for people with mental diseases . So, there is a free will because all crimes are prosecuted regardless of whether they are planned and unplanned in terms of law.
The writer asks a question towards the end of his article, “So do we have a free will? Is this question even answerable? ” (Schwartz, 2013) and he said it will always be an unanswered question. I agree with the author’s opinion and I believe that this question will always remain a dead end in terms of psychology . If this question could be answered in terms of psychology, all our behaviour could be explained by psychologists . How ever, psychology supports different views about whether we have consciousness in their subfields or not. Oxford University Press , said that none of the branches of psychology would make a valid judgment about free will for everyone. (Baer, Kaufman, & Baumeister,2008). This research causes me to think the same as a writer, and I think this question cannot be answered with certainty . Therefore , I find Schwartz’s questioning approach to the subject correct.
To conclude, I generally shared the same opinion with the author in terms of as psychology and law, but I defended opposite ideas with the writer about environmental affect. According to the text “Do We Have Free Will ? ”, The questions have been examined in many areas such as psychology, neuroscience and genetics, and law. Within the content an essayist underpins that brain research can discover how free will can work in detail, but too it cannot affirm or negate presence and when the subject is inspected in terms of neuropsychology, the creator considers that free will is influenced by both the brain and the environmental variables when the author contends the most subject in terms of law , says that our free will must be stand trial. Form any years, researchers have written thousands of articles about free will. From my point of view , these questions will always remain unanswered, and articles and research on free will never end. As people from different branches research this topic, different claims about free will will emerge and continue to be discussed.
References
Appelbaum, P. S., & Gutheil, T. G. (2007). Clinical handbook of psychiatry & the law. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Baer, J., Kaufman, J. C., & Baumeister, R. F. (Eds.). (2008). Are we free? Psychology and free will. Oxford University Press. Jefferson, Missouri. How Emotions Affect Behavior. (2016, June 27). Retrieved from https://study.com/academy/lesson/how-emotions-affect-behavior.html. Libet, B. (1999). Do we have free will? Journal of consciousness studies, 6(8-9), 47-57. Schwartz,S.(2013).Do we have free will? Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/proceed-your-own-risk/201311/do-we-have-freewill
