Blog 4: Essay

Truth in Libertarianism What is Libertarianism? It is a component or argument that strives to support incompatibilism against compatibility. The context behind these two philosophies is seen through the debate of free will and if people make their own decisions or not. Incompatibilism argues that determinism and free will cannot exist in the same world. The three main arguments for this ideal are Hard Determinism, Indeterminism, and Libertarianism. Hard determinism says since determinism is true then we cannot be free under no circumstances, indeterminism says that determinism is not true in every circumstance, and finally Libertarianism argues that human actions are a special kind of uncaused cause. Libertarianism basically argues that humans are free to make their own choices in every situation and this belief cannot exist with a deterministic world. There are three objections to libertarianism that a combat list may bring up, these include: depression, Ockham’s razor and miracles. The argument for depression being an objection to libertarianism says that since a person may be depressed they may stay in bed and not go to do anything which goes against their desires which in turn means that they have lost free will in that circumstance. The second objection of Ockham’s Razor simply says that if there are two choices to do something and you take the simpler one than you have lost free will and if you purposely go against that choice to prove you have free will then you do not because it was already determined. An example of this may be that there are two ways to get to an apartment in front of you, Option A, you walk through the open gate, option B, you take a lap around the building then jump the fence. Most people would decide to adhere to option A because it is more simple while some may even adhere to option B. The combatalist argues that in any case it was deterministic because if you chose A then you fall into Ockham’s Razor and if you chose B then you went against your true desires which means you have lost free will. The final argument of miracles as an objection tries to prove that some situations are so improbable and not affected by humans that they were already determined to happen. When Libertarianism is challenged it is able to combat these objections by presenting the idea that there is always a choice. When there is a choice there is free will, because people can decide what to do in any situation. People can make drastic life changing decisions on the fly or could make a simple decision of choosing to take a lap and jump the fence to get to their apartment because they want to. I personally want to believe that we always have a choice in every aspect of our life. To not have a choice is to not to have a purpose in life. We are just going through the motions without any say on what happens. Libertarianism resonates with me because it truly lives by the idea that we have a choice in every situation in our life. I find the idea that mental illness is an example of how there is determinism in our lives to be insulting as someone who has struggled with mental illness. In 2019 I was diagnosed with severe Anxiety, severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and mild Depression. I have felt beaten and restrained by these diseases. There have been times when I have felt like not wanting to do anything but sleep in my bed. In my experience this was not a set action of me having to stay in bed, I still had the choice to get up and fight my depression. I had days when I was stuck in bed and days when I went out, but in each and every example it was my choice ultimately. I chose to fight my mental illness and find ways to cope with it which I did. I truly believe that the progress I made in fighting my mental illness was not predetermined but was because of choices I have made to ensure that I have gotten better. The next argument saying that miracles disprove Libertarianism I can tell you is also offensive because of events that have occurred in my life. One big miracle in my life was beating my mental illness and taking control of it. This miracle was not determined to happen but occurred because I chose to go outside and find hobbies that could help me cope with my illness. I found what made me happy and chose to continue doing this hobby and eventually I was able to beat the strangle hold the mental illnesses had on me. Miracles are not predetermined; they occur with the decisions we make and sometimes with a little luck. Free will gives us purpose and gives us the ability to feel true emotion and understand that life is ever changing. Ockham's Razor is an interesting argument against Libertarianism because of how weak it is. I will quote a famous line from Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken”, “I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” This statement can be applied to so many aspects of life. There are so many examples of how people have chosen the harder path rather than the easier one. An example of this in my life was when I was doing online tests, I could have cheated and got an easy hundred but I decided to take the test with dignity and get what I get which was obviously the harder choice. Libertarianism lines up with many of the beliefs I hold, it truly exemplifies freewill. We are able to make life changing decisions because we choose to not because we were already determined too. Life is full of choices and that is what separates people, you are free to do what you please. We give ourselves purpose through how we react to situations we have in life. Citations Hearn, Lafcadio. Ultimate Questions. 1905.