Free Will vs. Determinism Paradox
A philosophical essay called the free will–determinism paradox poses that although our lives may seem to be ultimately guided by a higher power (i.e., Creator, God, Allah, Force, etc.) we are also free to go about our lives as we choose. In the sense that our lives are in the hands of some higher being, we tend to think that our life may already be predetermined, as a higher power is discretely revealed to us suggesting our plight through the day. Some may simply refer to this as “doing the will of god” or obeying “the will”. They may contend that to obey the will of a higher being is to reap its rewards, leading to a more successful or satisfying life.
On the other hand, we are thought not to behave as mere puppets on a string, and so we tend to also think that we are acting according to our own free will. We willfully make our own choices and decisions and decide our actions throughout the day.
Although a predetermined-life or a life of free-will appear as if they are two different things, the resolution is that they somehow go together. Some refer to this as the mystery of paradox, or two seemingly contrasting viewpoints coinciding to give the complete picture. Similar paradoxes exist in other fields such as in the Physical Sciences where it is cited the dual nature of light, and explains that light behaves as both a wave and a particle. Two seemingly contrasting viewpoints combine, or somehow go together, to express the total understanding.
Free Will ↔ Determinism
The free will-determinism paradox of philosophy has a perhaps more abstract implication but can be helped by referring to easier to understand terms used in sociology or psychology. In social sciences, it is explained that a basic nature of the psyche is modeled by three levels of the mind: the Id, the Ego, and the Superego. The Id is supposedly where all of man’s primitive drives and instincts are located, sometimes referred to as a “seething cauldron”. The Superego represents all the higher aspirations of man, his purposes and higher purposes, as well as his yearn for a higher power. The Ego lies somewhere between the two, and moderates between the Id and the Superego. It is said that a healthy Ego successfully moderates between the Id and the Superego to manage all of one’s needs. The Ego can be thought to represent the free will of man managing his higher callings from the Superego often driven instinctively by the Id.
