We all make decisions every day, whether they be instinctive decisions, such as catching a ball when it is thrown at you or dodging it, or well-thought out decisions, such as studying Philosophy or Politics at university. We believe that if we were confronted with the exact same situation again we would be able to make an alternative decision. Take the example of a ball being thrown at me, I would in the first circumstance try to catch the ball, and in the exact same circumstance if I relived it, be able to dodge the ball. To use simpler language, at T(1), when choosing between X and Y, I could choose Y, but if faced with T(1) again, I would be able to choose X. This leads to us developing the idea that we have freewill. This freewill is naturally limited, as no matter how much I want to become a mallard, I cannot, due to the limitations of the physical world. However, I can choose between X and Y, and therefore, I have some control over the final destination of my life. I can choose whether I have branflakes or fried eggs for breakfast, revise at lunch or chat with my friends, write notes down in the lesson or play snake on my computer and therefore, I am solely to blame or praise for where I end up, as I have control of my destiny.
Some disagree with this, and see the universe as a chain of cause and effects, determined from the moment it began. This point of view is known as determinism and likens the world to a roulette table. Whilst we may say that we do not know where the ball will land on the roulette table, it is entirely predictable, with appropriate use of the appropriate sums, where the ball will finish. In the same way, whilst we may not currently have the scientific knowledge to conclude what I will eat for breakfast tomorrow, science will eventually get to a point in which it can predict the future. Science uses the empirical world around us to arrive at conclusions, and these conclusions help us predict the future on a small scale. We assume that everything can be explained through science eventually, so that means that eventually we will be able to predict the future perfectly accurately. In this way, the universe can be viewed as a process, just a series of causes and events from the first thing to the last. It is observable, predictable, but immutable.
One of the issues with determinism is its practicality, or lack of, within society. If we accept that the future is set, then surely there is no way we can blame anyone for their actions, as the responsibility of the effect, is passed onto its cause, and then this cause's cause, and the chain continues. This leads to blame for what we perceive to be immoral activity being passed on to the efficient cause, or the first thing ever. In this way, if determinism is intergrated as an accepted world view, we could end up with an antinomianistic society. No one could possibly be blamed for their actions, as it wasn't their fault, they are just part of the ongoing cause and effect of the universe.
However, there are flaws in determinist thinking. The underlying assumption within determinism, that we have so far accepted as true, is "past causes lead to future effects". This statement isn't necessarily true, especially due to findings within Quantum Physics in the past twenty years. Whilst determinism argues for a perfectly predictable universe, discoveries about the movement of sub-atomic particles do not. These sub-atomic, quantum, particles move randomly, and are unpredictable. Therefore, whilst the determinist believes that the world is like a roulette wheel, or the DVD video that bounces off the sides of the TV when no one is watching, the Quantum physicist suggests that there are unpredictable elements within this world, meaning that the future is not set.
Therefore, as determinism was largely based on science, yet, new scientific discoveries suggest that its view isn't entirely correct, meaning that choice isn't an illusion. The compromise/cop out is known as compatibilism, or soft determinism. It is somewhat sociological, as it believes that we make our own decisions, yet, we are heavily influenced by society and prior experiences. I may choose to have branflakes for breakfast, but that choice wasn't entirely free, as I have been conditioned to choose branflakes for breakfast on the 25th of November due to the climate, the time I wake up, and the availability of food, yet I still made that choice. Soft determinism suggests that some of our actions are made completely freely, however, it does fail to identify which actions are made freely, and which aren't. It suggests that past is so complex that we do have some free will, but we will never have complete free will.
Overall, we do not know what will happen in the future. Perhaps with more scientific development we will be able to predict the movement of quantum particles, and therefore the universe will be entirely predictable. At the moment, however, we have to accept that we have some choice in our "destiny", despite the immeasurable amount of previous causes effect our decision making, and I will never be able to be a mallard.
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