Free Will Or Fate

The debate as to whether we as humans have control of our lives, the things that occur in them and the future, or whether or not it is all up to a preconceived and predesigned destiny is an age-old one at that. Many of us still have the question lingering in our heads, regardless of any significant argument for one way or the other. The Ancient Greeks deemed the role of fate as something like reality outside of the self, in which human life is shaped and determined. In modern times, such a notion seems like a romanticism of something that was never really there.

While the debate is as old as time, so are the arguments for and against either belief, or notion. Those who argue that fate exists will often speak of divine intervention, how situations seemingly irregular and uncalled for were acts of fate and were already predestined to occur. Those who argue against fate and believe that free will exist will state that some things are simply flukes, acts of luck, or simply put; coincidences. Those who argue for free will believe that each individual holds the power of acting unrestrained at their own discretion, or in other words, independently.

It seems as though the great debate is a matter of philosophy, to some extent. Those who view one side may take occurrences and examples and apply them to their beliefs to prove that they are correct; so it’s a matter of the realist versus the idealist, and who is to say either one is wrong when there has never been any solid, concrete proof for either side of the debate? Perhaps the only one true thing that can be said about fate versus free will is that we all face the same fate inevitably, and that is death, and all other occurrences simply just happen.

Free-will ascertains the ability to act on one’s own accord, judgment and freedom, while fate argues that while you may be thinking these ideas and decisions you make are of your own volition, but they have already been decided by other forces and are thus predestined and acts of fate. There are logical arguments and examples behind both sides of the argument, it’s simply a choice of what you personally agree with and find to be not just most suitable, but most logical in the end. Whether it is free-will or fate, those who truly know which may or may not be the ultimate right are unable to tell us; so it goes.