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  • Essay / Aristotle's theory: the hierarchical model of free will

    Free will represents an individual making choices or acting without any constraint. Although it can be argued that different aspects of determinism restrict or negate the possibility of free will, it should not be assumed that the presence of metaphysical, physical, or scientific constraints negates the possibility of free will. Furthermore, it should be noted that fear of retaliation cannot be interpreted as an inhibition of free will, because essentially, free will constitutes the ability of an individual to make the decision to do or not to do something (Sartre, 1948). In a theological context, Aristotle (in Thomsson, 1953) posits that free will, particularly individual free will, can operate with the perceived presence of a theological deity. In this model, an individual can have various desires based on a perceived need which can ultimately impact an individual's behavior. In terms of will, or when an individual acts on a particular desire, or may have several different desires that cause conflict, leading the individual to end up in inaction. (This alone would not constitute free will. However, according to Fisher (1994; 1998) if a person were coerced to act, or behaviorally conditioned to act in a certain way that might be contrary to various levels of ordered desires, this model of free will Will would be questioned in terms of actual free will. In other words, an individual may want to go jogging and also need to go to the local market While dressing for running. , the individual notices that it has started to rain would experience a crisis of all desires at this point and decide not to go out for a jog or run to the local market The decision not to commit. in a particular voluntary act is also an example of free will (Tiempe, in IEP, 2015). Determinism and free willCausal determinism, also called nomological determinism, (Tiempe in IEP, 2015) is a theory which postulates that the course of the future is entirely determined by the conjunction of the past and the laws of nature (Tiempe in IEP, 2015) . 2015). Such predetermination, coupled with the influences of past events in an individual's life, does not imply free will, but much less that an individual is directed, to some extent, by the influence and experience of the past, or by what is previously known. Compatibilism, incompatibilism and