Problem of Freewill and Determinism

Freewill
In our experience of our own behaviour and own decisions-we find two opposing features.

Source

The first of these is our awareness of our own freedom, of our own ability to decide for ourselves. To deliberate about what to do in various situations, and to come to our own conclusions about what to believe and what to do.

On the other hand,the second element is that we discover that in some cases what we believed at the time to be a freewill decision had been influenced by various personal and social factors.

The more we learn about the workings of human nature. The more we come to realize that a great deal of what we do and think is the result of our upbringing,our education,our environment,our biological nature

Metaphysicians have been concerned with the problem of whether,in view of the information at our disposal,human beings can be said to be free agents, or whether their activities and thoughts are determined completely by the many influencing factors that impinge upon them.

Complexities:In most of our judgements about people we assume that, in some sense, they chose freely to do what they did, or to believe what they do. We punish,condemn or blame individuals for making certain choices and decisions.

We insist that they ought to have done something else,and if they had,then would they be deserving of rewards and praise.

We conduct ourselves morally and legally on the basis that human beings are free agents, and can make decisions of their own freewill.
This sort of assumption can be erroneous. There are indications of the way in which human nature can be guided and influence by propaganda,advertising,
parental training. Individuals are victim of circumstances and determinations beyond their control than responsible agents.

Determinism
The arguments between determinists and those who believed in freewill was that of theological controversies.

Source

In many religious traditions,a form of
**divine determinism has been advocated, claiming that God Himself is the sole causal agent in the universe, and determines all actions,human and natural.**

The Religious View: One form of divine determinism has argued that since God is all-powerful and all-knowing . He is able to control everything that occurs, and to know beforehand(predetermine) everything that takes place.

If there were any event, whether a human thought or the movement of a leaf, that God did not know in advance,then there would be a limitation on Divine power.
Since in this theory,such limitation is unthinkable,prior to the Creation of the world,God must have known all that would take place in the future.

He must have known every choice that we would ever make in the course of human history. Thus,everything that anyone does is predestined and predetermined by God's prior knowledge and prior decisions.

If one claims that God is the ultimate cause of whatever takes place, and that God has foreknowlege of everything that occurs. Yet,we are still able to choose freely,it means the freedom is limited.

We may think that we are choosing freely,but our choices infact have been determined in advance,so that we cannot actually make an original decision.

Even though we may engage in elaborate deliberations about what choice to make,the ultimate decision is fixed, since God already knows it. Though we willingly make the choice that God expects,our willingness is merely another item that God controls, has foreseen and foreordained.

Thanks for reading

Reference
Philosophy made simple by Richard H. Popkin