Originally posted by saffa73
We have limited free will. I believe our lives are pre determined up to a point.
At times in our lives we will have decisions to make, not simple ones like left or right, but important ones, like running in the path of an oncoming car to save a child or not etc.
These are what I call .defining moments'. These are the only decisions that are not made f ...[text shortened]... e will.
Our lives are like a series of paths with forks, the forks are the defining moments.
We have limited free will. I believe our lives are pre determined up to a point.
How can something be predetermined up to a point? If we accept God is omniscient then the our lives are determined completely. If you accept that your life is partly dtermined, then you imply that at some point in your life, you could do multiples actions. So what made you choose one of those multiple actions. If your life is partly determined you imply that nothing made you do either. Thus your actions would be random.
Our lives are like a series of paths with forks, the forks are the defining moments.
In all your examples, somethig
must have caused you to act in such a way. So it would more like travelling down a single path with no forks.
I dont believe you understand the implications of your argument. You suggest that to an extent our actions are indeterminate or partly determined or predetermined up until a point. However, while this might entail free will it is nonsensical because it precludes any moral responsibility. If you say that at time t, I could have done X or Y, and the defining action would be X, there must be a reason for you to choose X over Y or the otherway around. This reason would exclude alternative actions and contradict a partial deterministic attitude. If you deny a reason, then you are condemned to randomness (since nothig causes you to do X or Y - including yourself!). This would not reaaly allow for a "defining moment".