he cycle of death and rebirth can be overcome through right action in this or a number of lifetimes. The ultimate goal of Hinduism is to break free from the cycle of death and rebirth karma causes. Since this is to be achieved by right action, the individual is perceived to have some choice in action. As such, the determinism within Hinduism is incompatible with scientific determinism because it admits the concept of free will.
Scientists search for the cause-and-effect relationships that exist between things. A majority of scientists believe that the physical world is predictable, based on complex mechanisms of cause-and-effect. This is a deterministic viewpoint of the physical world. With respect to human behavior, scientific determinists argue that there is no such construct as free will or personal freedom of choice. Instead, they argue that all actions are the result of similar complex mechanisms of cause-and-effect. Scientific determinists see human thought and action as the product of genetic, psychological, and social forces. In other words, we are controlled by these forces not by our own choices. To an extreme, from the scientific determinism viewpoint, individuals cannot be held responsible for their actions because these forces and not their freedom to choose are responsible for behavior. As Spinoza contends: ôIn the mind there is no absolute or free will; but the mind is determined to wish this or that by a cause, which has also been determined by another cause, and this last by another cause, and so on indefinitelyö (Kirby and Goodpaster 212).
Indeterminists argue that while some genetic, social, and psychological forces may determine our behavior, we have an element of free will, because we can choose or not choose and are, therefore, accountable for our actions. The determinist would argue in contrast that such seemingly free actions are only the outcome of genetic, social, and psychological factors o...