Hobbes described will as “voluntary action, desires and deliberation”. He clarified that imagination is the basis of voluntary action, and that there are elements that limit one’s complete freedom to do what one pleases. Hobbes believed that man is free both in conscious and subconscious mind, but the will to put his desires into action is determined by culture, society and religion.
Locke sits on the other side of the fence, in my view. He thought it was inappropriate to describe the will itself as free; it is the man who is free. “I think the question is not proper, whether the will be free, but whether a man be free…this way of talking, nevertheless, has prevailed, and, as I guess, produced confusion,” he said. He is confused as to the coexistence of the words “free and will”, although he points out that will is determined.
In my opinion, Hobbes’s view on human will is correct. There is a saying ” If you have no shame, do whatever you please”, and free will simply means doing as one pleases without constraint. Analysing this statement, you will realise that in today’s society, the “free will” humans have access to has turned society immoral. Free will is an illusion subconsciously created in the human mind. The will to act is governed and restricted by surrounding/environment, weather, age, race, religion, country, region and the law of a place. Absolute free will only occurs in the mind and not in reality.
With absolute free will, the world would be in chaos. When I consider how wars progress, I realise it is mostly down to excesses of power; in essence, free will…”I have the power to destroy and fight you”. In my view, if all humans had the power to do as they pleased without restriction, it would lead to destruction and set back human morals, development and innovation.
Works Cited
Abdulla123. Hobbes and Free Will: Hobbes and Free Will – Term Paper
(termpaperwarehouse.com), Pg. 3.
Rickless, Samuel, “Locke On Freedom”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Edward N.
Zalta.Edu, 2020.
“Free Will” (informationphilosopher.com)
https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2020/entries/locke-freedom
Free will only exist in the subconscious of men, what one thinks he can do in his own right might have an adverse effect on lives environment and society, that’s why we have laws, guide , and believe system.
Chibuzor the computer guy