Human Freedom and Determinism: A Deep Dive
Human Freedom Versus Determinism
The Problem of Human Existence
In the evolution of man, weaker instincts tend to disappear and become mere impulses or tendencies, giving way to the search for pleasure and the avoidance of pain. Since there are no certain biological responses in human life, life itself becomes an issue. The problems of our existence, and each problem that we face daily, arise because instinctive responses are replaced by awareness and reflection (reason), which in turn lead to action and human freedom.
Life is problematic because we know we lack instincts. Though we may be guided by the impulses of our uncertainty, we ourselves are establishing the direction we want to follow. We are forced to choose, and in this paradox of being free, we cease to be free. So how do we choose? For minor impulses or tendencies, it may not matter, but for important decisions that affect the rest of our lives, we must reflect, to see the good and the bad, and the consequences of the decision.
If we can choose what we do, we are responsible for everything that we have chosen to do. Responsibility is closely linked to freedom; they are two sides of a coin. This can appear overwhelming and distressing because thanks to freedom, man is responsible for himself.
Determinism: The Argument Against Freedom
Determinism is a philosophical position that considers human action to be determined by causes that we tend to ignore in most cases. Our actions and decisions seem to be determined by impulses that we cannot control. Freedom, when it appears to us, becomes a problem. Determinism suggests that we mistakenly believe we are free when, in fact, we are not. There are several types of determinism, including physical, psychological, and biological (scientific), and economic determinism.
Physical Determinism (Cosmic)
Man is but one being among many in nature. All are subject to physical laws of inexorable fulfillment, so there can be no exception for man. This is the law that governs the universe, the Destiny (as the Stoics called it) that determines men. Laplace stated that the world is composed of corpuscles interacting with each other.
However, this determinism can be criticized. The Stoics, dedicated to education and ethics, believed in man’s inner freedom. They taught how we should work to achieve happiness, recognizing that only the outside world (outer freedom) was not in our hands but in those of Fate.
Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle casts doubt on this determinism. This principle prohibits simultaneous knowledge of the position and velocity of any elementary particle. Any increased accuracy in position measurement is accompanied by a growing vagueness in the average speed and vice versa. Therefore, future positions and velocities can only be predicted with some probability, never satisfying Laplace’s deterministic view.
K. Popper’s reply accentuates this criticism, stating that indeterministic physics is insufficient to create a space for human freedom, and this principle asserts only that which cannot be reduced to mere mechanical accident.
Psychological Determinism
Man, when he acts, always does so on the grounds or for reasons that seem stronger. According to psychoanalytic theory, Freud states that our determination comes from the “id,” which is the primary source of pleasure and desires of our unconscious, and not the ego and super-ego, which are governed by reason and social/cultural action.
This determinism can also be criticized. For psychoanalysts and other human beings, always trying to modulate it by the reality principle (ego, super-ego) is the source of freedom and will. In animals, it is instinct; in man, it becomes impulses, “wants” that we can change or deny. Against desire is will.
Will dominates desire but is not independent because its strength and energy are in them. Therefore, desires, with the intervention of will, are the “engine of action” that takes the form of human freedom.