Thanks Len for the following questions and for your comments. In ressponse to the first question on: "What would life be like if everything worked out “right” in accordance with some pre-determined plan?" I thinkk there may be a bend towards determinism. With this comes the philosophical undertone that every human action is causally determined (causal laws guide all actions) and results can be predictable - life would then be seen as an unbroken chain of events dating back to the origin of the universe. This will in essence take away the possibility of anyone changing his/her course of action as that would be outside the realm of what one can do. However, as we all know, people can change and make decisions that are sometimes unpredictable.
Predeterminism takes away the possibility of free will. This also takes away the possibility of true love as true love cannot exist without freedom to choose. If a person is forced to marry someone she does not love just because it was already predetermined, then the freedom to fall in love vanishes with it. The same goes with the freedom to do so many other things including choosing what one eats, where one lives, what kind of job one does and so many other things. Granted that there are some areas where one may not have the ability to chooose, for instance, one's parents or children, for the most part, one has greater freedom in choosing other things. Now this does not mean that there is predeterminism in this because such is controlled by biological laws. Natural and physical laws do not mean determinism.
For things to work out "right" does not necessarily mean a realisation of a "perfect" world. Things work out right but sometimes not in the way or order we wish. So, with regards to the speculation of what life would be if everything worked out "right" in accordance with some pre-determined laws, I will say that this will propose a philosophical view of a pure mechanical universe and humans governed by mechanical laws, who are incapable of making choices. This will also take away the possibility to exercise one of the most basic needs, the power of love - love of God, neighbour, children and parents. If one cannot choose, there will also be no need for trying to teach people, no need for people who for instance, have been in trouble with the law to change and become better people. It could also lead to choas as each individual can defend his/her actions as pre-determined and one he/she has no power to change. So, instead of having a perfect world, we may have a very chaotic world.
On the second question "Good judgement is a result of Experience. Does not Experience result from bad judgement?" of course they are vice versa. One learns from experience just as one's mistakes provides opportunity for correcting what one may have misjudged. On the first part - good judgement is a result of Experience - it is important to note that with age comes experience. The knowledge one gets from experiences of either doing something right or wrong helps the individual to make better judgement. For instance, as a teenager, one may not necessarily appreciate the juggling acts parenst do to make ends meet financially and otherwise. As one gets older and starts to work, he or she may realize that it takes a lot to calculate how much money should be spent on certain things. One may also realize why mom and dad would not allow him or her to go to certain places at certain times or do certain things.
On the second section - does not experience result from bad judgement? - I agree with you. We all make judgements all the time with regards to what we do, eat, wear and so on. Many of us have also made mistakes that helped us to learn because they were the wrong things to do. In today's world, many people in the United States, for instance, have made poor judgement regarding buying a house or other major purchases. With this comes the many foreclosures resulting from the housing mortgage bubble burst of the last few years. While this is an unfortunate situation, it is helping some people to realize that one has to weigh one's finances, possibilities of unforseen accidents and the market trend in order to decide if one can afford buying an expensive house or not. Also, if one has had an accident, one is more inclined to avoid occasions that lead to the same kindof accident. We see that in children too. If for instance a child who is able to understand touches fire/candle light, she or he will probably avoid touching it a second time because it hurts.
I hope I fully understand this last one - Human Freedom is advanced from knowing what we actually believe; “know thyself". Is there advancement in Human Freedom from knowing what we are expected to believe?. I can say that depending on what we are expected to believe and what informs it, human freedom can be advanced or diminished. That we are expected to believe something does not necessarily make it right, for instance, people were expected to believe that slavery was good, and they did, but it only diminished some people's freedom. So, knowing what is "right" and by this I mean what is informed by divine and natural law.
There is greater freedom from knowing what we are expected t believe when that is in accordance with expected civic knowledge informed by divine law. Knowing that all humans are created equal, in God's image and likeness helps us to honour and respect all people's rights and dignity. Knowing that all humans desire the same things - to be happy, to be loved, to be accepted, to be part of the community helps us to work towards realizing such goals. We know and believe that children are precious and older people though frail, are valued leads us to enact laws to protect the most vulnerable in our society, and to treat our children in a more respectable way. Knowing that young people become their best when appreciated helps us to learn other ways of getting them to develop rather than using the cane.
So, advancement in psychology, theology, sociology and other human sciences help us to know how we ought to treat others thereby creating a greater freedom of interaction between peoples and age ranges. Since we believe certain things asa a result of the knowledge we have - for instance that all people have the same organs, same kind of blood system - we have come to a better appreciation and a human freedom has been advanced and continues to be advanced.
Once more, thanks for the questions and input.
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ReplyDeleteThanks for your response to the questions posed under the caption of “Free Will and Choices”. When you posed the question “Why does God give us Free Will”, I found that these reflective questions naturally followed:
ReplyDelete“What would it be like if everything did turn out right in accordance with a predetermined plan? Your answer: “This takes away the possibility of true love as true love cannot exist without freedom to choose”. Is this not the exact point of free will?
Love -wishing for another the best of every circumstance- is our response. Without free will, we are unable to make such a response.
And wisdom or good judgement spring from our experiences, not only those experiences when we are loving and working in cooperation with God’s plan, but also from those times we fail to love. I believe this is what St. Paul means when he says: Where sin exists, grace abounds. We only need to seek, to ask, to knock. Underscores the importance of forgiveness.
The third question is very ambiguous and I must admit confusing. I like your response. For me it’s a real encouragement to open our minds and hearts to expansiveness, to not getting stuck in our sometimes narrow views and perspectives. In presenting the question, I had in mind the difference between “proposing” and “imposing”. The Archbishop has often said: We are here to propose Christ, not impose. I see God as proposing to us all the natural laws of creation which leads to our freedom and well being, but not imposing them. When we fail to see, or fail to follow, we and others suffer the consequences of this. Sort of like “cause and effect”. If we eat too much, (cause) we gain weight (effect). But we gain wisdom as a consequence. Is not “imposing” an act of power, and not an act of love? Imposing to me leads to suffering, not freedom. And we see many examples in our history of countries and institutions imposing their values and what they thought important onto others which lead to great suffering and often violence.
For me, God does not impose. He proposes, and then invites us to gain wisdom from the consequences of our choice.
Enough said. Thanks for your interest. This dialog is very beneficial.