This paper compares and contrasts determinism and free will. The purpose of the analysis is to decide which concept would be preferable in present day society and culture.
It is interesting that down through the centuries the general opinion of many philosophers has been that determinism and free will are incompatible, with no possibility of compromise. As Bernard Berofsky states, "The problem of foreknowledge requires that we suppose the knowledge to exist prior to the event known; for it is only when this condition is satisfied that we become concerned about our freedom. And we have adopted a desideratum for a definition of determinism according to which determinism and freedom must be prima facie incompatible. Divine omniscience disturbs us because we view God as having already observed us doing things that we have not yet
done . . . Ignoring the fact that we are supposed to be defining
determinism in terms of foreknowledge, it is clear that our concern about freedom arises from the assumption that the world
is deterministic not from the fact that there might be a God who knows the true deterministic theory. Hence, I see no point in referring to divine foreknowledge in the definition of determinism. I further contend that our concern about freedom does not arise from the fact that there might be someone, human or divine, who knows the true deterministic theory."1
Essentially, Berofsky argues that foreknowledge and free will are not incompatible. At least the incompatibility is not maintained by consideration of psychological details concerning the knower.
A definition of determinism would be in order at this point. Determinism is the belief that the course of the universe is absolutely fixed and free will does not exist or is an illusion. Perhaps where we find determinism or free will depends on the level of existence that we are examining. On the subatomic level, at least as we understand it, everyth...