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Determinism, Freewill & Hinduism

The issues to be decided in this research include the following:

What is the role of determinism and free will in Hinduism?

Is scientific determinism compatible with Hinduism?

What forces influence human thought and action?

The methodology employed to address these issues includes the use of literature, religious sermons, textbooks, research journal articles, and Web sites devoted to the issues of determinism, indeterminism, free will, and Hinduism. Such sources have provided the research from which the following analysis is drawn.

In ShakespeareÆs tragedy Julius Caesar, at one point in the drama Cassius explains to Brutus: ôThe faultàis not in our stars, / But in ourselvesö (Shakespeare I.ii.140-141). CassiusÆ words explain that his fate and the fate of Brutus are not dictated by anything other than their own choices. Such a view stands in direct contrast to scientific determinism. Scientific determinism views human choice as being determined by genetics, environment (social experience), and psychology, ôDeterminism holds that each state of affairs is determined by all states of affairs that came before it. What happens next is completely fixed by what came before and could not be otherwiseö (Free 1). In a rejection of free will, scientific determinism posits internal and external forces as dictating human action and not free choice.

In Hinduism, the doctrine of karma states that ôevery thought and action results in consequences born by the actor or thinkerö (Rood 3). Any joy or suffering in this life is a direct result of previous actions in this or a previous life, to the Hindu way of thinking. Because our present condition is determined by our past actions, even in previous lives, the doctrine of karma conveys a deterministic viewpoint that we each must accept the living out of our karma. Despite the deterministic nature of the doctrine of karma, there is room made for free will in Hinduism. T...

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Determinism, Freewill & Hinduism. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 03:49, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1711504.html