Introduction
Why do I act in certain ways? Am I really responsible for my behavior and actions? These are some questions that most of us have asked ourselves at one time or another. While philosophers have put forward many theories to explain this phenomenon, no one seems to have satisfied our curiosity. Sometimes we think that our childhood and genetic inheritance will have a profound bearing on our character and behavior only to act in contrast to these expectations. For example; bringing up a child under strict rules does not guarantee a responsible adult. From determinism theory, hard determinism seeks to answer some of these questions.
Main discussion
Hard determinism holds that we are not responsible for our actions since they are caused by natural and behavioral force beyond our control. The idea of free will does not therefore hold. Hard determinism theory puts forward the argument that no action is free if it must occur. It therefore follows that before anything happens there are forces outside our control those trigger the event. It therefore follows that no action is free.
To defend these claims, it is obviously true that an action cannot be free if it must occur. The notion that everything is completely caused by some causal laws shows that the hard determinist does not believe that anything is uncaused. He challenges anyone who doubts this claim to try to produce an example of an uncaused event. According to him, nothing comes by free since all that happens is a product of another preceding cause that man has no control over. Majority of people agree that most but not all events are caused. To answer these, the determinist argues that all human actions are caused by wants, feeling and the like. These are in turn caused by specific antecedent conditions which ensure that they occur. This means that ones actions are not free.
The behavioral printability of most people supports this theory. This is true since the fact that your behavior can be predicted shows that your behavior is caused by causal laws. If your behavior is not caused by causal laws, then it is unpredictable and people will think that you are crazy. Besides, we can say that you make decisions either accidentally or not. If you make your decisions accidentally, then you randomly choose from among choices and you are not therefore responsible for your actions. If however you did not choose accidentally, then your actions are as a result of some causal laws.
Although people like to do what they want, we can not say this is free will. This is because some causal laws have programmed people to want to do some things. This means that what people want now has already been prearranged. We all know that people have wanted different things at different times and places.
Some philosophers have argued against hard determinism on various grounds. One may say that the hard determinist is actually misusing words by caused actions to be compelled and forced actions. Thus although all actions are in one way or another caused, they are not compelled and forced. An action can thus be forced and free at the same time. For the hard determinist, a free action would not have to be caused. Something that is not true. Recent studies in science have shown that some action results are chaotic and therefore impossible to predict. By this we cannot say they are caused. Again, humans are not like objects such that they will react to situations in a predictable way. Telegraphic studies for example may tell us more about human behavior than consideration of mechanical causes.
Let us take an example of two people. One had a difficult upbringing while the other had a loving upbringing. A friend left each of them with a key to his house and went for a trip. There was a beautiful watch inside the house that they all loved. Although the temptation to steal the watch will be greater on the person with a difficult upbringing, they will all feel the temptation. Both can therefore choose to steal the watch or not to steal it. This shows that although disadvantages may make us vulnerable in some situations, we are all responsible for our actions. Besides, unlike objects or animals, human beings can even consider causes of their behaviors and redefine themselves
The assumption that no action is free if it must occur and that every action is caused and not therefore free presents a problem. There is nothing to compare to this possibility, probability is therefore eliminated. We know that no law is true if there as at least no other hypothesis to compare it with. Scientific studies rely heavily on probability which does not apply in this particular case. (Schick 600-668)
Conclusion
Although we may all agree that most actions and events are caused, humans have a role to act responsibly and in a way that does not affect others including future generations negatively. Hard determinism is convincing on various grounds in explanation to all human behavior but it does not completely explain it.
Works Cited
Schick, Theodore& Vaughn, L., 4th ed. Doing Philosophy: An Introduction Through Thought Experiments, McGraw-Hill, 1.1(2009): 600-668.