The Truth of Christianity: Being an Examination of the More Important Arguments For and Against Believing in That Religion — John Shaqi
The Truth of Christianity: Being an Examination of the More Important Arguments For and Against Believing in That ReligionTurton, W. H. (William Harry)
Religion
The Truth of Christianity: Being an Examination of the More Important Arguments For and Against Believing in That Religion
Turton, W. H. (William Harry)
Apologetics
Now we have in favour of this action of the human will on the human
body the universal experience of mankind, which is that a man can
somehow or other move his limbs at pleasure. Indeed, the question
whether a man can walk across the room when he wishes, seems to most
people to admit of a convincing answer: _solvitur ambulando_. But
still, the action of will on matter seems so improbable, and so
difficult to understand, that attempts have naturally been made to
find some other explanation.
But no satisfactory one can be suggested. For my wishing to move my
body, is followed by my moving it so frequently and so universally,
that there must be some connection between them. And though we
cannot imagine how a mere wish can move particles of matter (in the
brain or anywhere else), it is just as hard to imagine how the
movement of particles of matter can produce a wish. The latter
theory is no easier to understand than the other; and, as just said,
it is opposed to _the daily experience of mankind_, which is that a
man's will can, somehow or other, move his limbs, and hence
determine his acts.
(3.) _Man's will is free._
It must next be noticed that man's will is a _free_ will, and this
is a most important point. It is quite distinct from the previous
question. Then we decided that a man's raising his hand, for
instance, was the result of his wishing to do so. We have now to
consider whether this wish was free on the man's part, or whether he
could not help it; the latter view being called that of _Necessity_,
or _Determinism_, and meaning that a man's acts are necessarily
determined, and not free. Of course everyone admits that there are
_limits_ to human freedom. A man cannot always raise his hand when
he likes, it may be paralyzed. The important point is whether he is
_ever_ free; and there are two main arguments on each side.
Now the great argument in favour of free will is, again, our own
inherent conviction. It is one of the most universal, and one of the
most certain, beliefs of mankind that he has free will. This belief
is forced upon him by his own daily experience. He feels, for
instance, that he is free to raise his hand or not. And what is
more, he can verify the fact by actually raising it, whenever he
likes; so it is literally true to say that the conviction rests on
the daily experience of the human race. And to many, this argument
alone seems conclusive.
But, as a matter of fact, it is fully confirmed by _human conduct_.
For a man's conduct is _variable_ and quite unlike the uniformity
which we find in chemistry and physics, where there is no free
force, and everything is brought about in accordance with fixed
laws. So we seem to require some free force in man to account for
his variable conduct. These, then, are the two arguments in favour
of free will--man's _inherent conviction_, confirmed by his
_variable conduct_; and no more powerful arguments can be imagined.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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