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Whole systems of philosophy have claimed such an eternal and absolute validity; the nineteenth century produced a bumper crop of so-called atheists, materialists and determinists who believed in all sincerity that "Science" was capable of a complete truth and unfailing prediction.
In it I propose to consider how our life goes forth in action; for in fact wherever self-consciousness appears, there is developed also a centre of activity, and an activity of an altogether peculiar kind. It is well known that in interpreting these facts of action the judgment of ethical writers is divided. Libertarians and determinists are here at issue.
He introduces them first during the reign of Jonathan, with the classification which had already been made in the Wars: the Pharisees as the upholders of Providence or fate and freewill, the Essenes as absolute determinists, the Sadducees as absolute deniers of the influence of fate on human affairs.
But if they were logical and consistent determinists, they would do and feel no such thing; for the praise we give to a well-poised spring-cart is one thing, and the praise we give to a well-poised character is another.
Isn't that what we are trying to do? We are not determinists or fatalists, and to condemn us to such a philosophy would be to destroy us. We live on hope. In spite of our apparent materialism, we are idealists. And is it not possible to regard nature as governed by laws remorseless, if you like the word and yet believe, with Kant and Goethe, that there is an inner realm?
We Determinists do not denounce men; we denounce acts. We do not blame men; we try to teach them. If they are not teachable we restrain them. You will admit that our method is different from the accepted method. I shall try to convince you that it is also materially better than the accepted, or Christian, method.
On the material the human will is a slave; on the spiritual plane it is the sovereign. It may then be called the "awakened" will. It is my conviction that the eternal crossing of swords between the Determinists and the Libertarians can be set at rest only by a right understanding of the spiritual makeup of man, otherwise the arguments of both sets of thinkers are equally strong.
But where would it be if we HAD free-will? rejoin the determinists. If a 'free' act be a sheer novelty, that comes not FROM me, the previous me, but ex nihilo, and simply tacks itself on to me, how can I, the previous I, be responsible? How can I have any permanent CHARACTER that will stand still long enough for praise or blame to be awarded?
How is it possible that a righteous God would force a man to act in a certain manner and then punish him for it? Hence the sect of the "Kadariya," who were in favor of freedom of the will. The Jabariya were the determinists.
As is well known, there are two opposing views upon this subject held by opposite schools the theory of Determinism, on the one hand, and of Free Will on the other. The Libertarians assert that our wills are free we having power of choice in all our actions. The Determinists, on the other hand, contend that our thoughts and actions are determined by definite, ascertainable causes.
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