Free Will and How It Affects Human Agency

Free will and how it affects Human Agency.

First we must understand what “Freewill” is According to David Hume, the question of the nature of free will is “the most contentious question of metaphysics.” If so, then finding the true meaning of free will is no walk in the park. To assert that an agent has free will is to claim that the agent has the ability to decide his or course of action. But if animals posses the same trait and we typically believe that only people, and not animals, posses free will. Let us then understand free will as - the capacity unique to persons that allows them to control their actions. It is hard to say that free will is present only when there is an agent who has a specific faculty of will, whether “free will” is simply shorthand for other features of persons, and whether if there really is such a thing.

“Why should we even care whether or not agents have free will? Probably the best reason for caring is that free will is closely related to two other important philosophical issues: freedom of action and moral responsibility. However, despite the close connection between these concepts, it is important not to conflate them.” If we perceive human actions as the result of the rational capacities of humans, we can then see the possibility of free action depending on the possibility of free will. To assert that an agent acted freely is to say that the agent was successful in carrying out a free violation of choice.