The Ways Free Will Can Be Obstructed
In my opinion, free will is the notion of acting based on your desires, emotions, and character. If one acts a certain way, without any coercion or physical restrictions, then he or she is acting in accordance with how they truly feel. This in term cannot be determined, as I do not believe that any metaphysical forces or events that have happened in the past necessitate our future actions. We enjoy, to some degree, the consequences of our actions and the responsibility it carries with it and hence the only way that one can experience such enjoyment due to the actions coming from an undermined place such as desire and character.
However, there are times where free will is obstructed. Ultimatums are scenarios where, if X does not do what Y wants, then X has to suffer consequences due to that inaction. That inaction itself, I would consider not to be free, because X was not free to choose not to act in this case, as there were consequences attached to the “action”. Another scenario in which free will is obstructed would be action from an individual that was caused due to pressure that’s being applied from the exterior force, that one is unable to control. If somebody is running because he/she is being chased by a wild dog, the action of running was not a causality of that individual’s desire or character, but rather it was the wild dog’s pressure that caused him or her to run.
Causation of action is the way to determine the free will. All causes fall into two categories. The first being an internal cause, and the second being an external cause. Internal Causes, as I was describing earlier, is an action caused by one’s character, wishes or desires. These causes are voluntary as the onus is on the individual to act and that action is being motivated by nobody but himself/herself. They can be developed by one’s values and motivations. External Causes are actions that follow involuntary actions, as it does not align with that individual inner desires/wishes. They are mainly physical barriers that prevent one from making any choice that goes against one’s desire, but he/she is forced to act due to not having any other options. For instance, getting handcuffed by a cop and being put in jail, is against one’s desires. The individual would not be able to do as they wish due to being physically constrained.
In summary, an individual act freely when not under any sort of coercion or external pressure, and that the action is only derived within oneself. The ability to act on the spot or to something that correlates with your values and nature, is in turn free will, despite external factors such as physical barriers coming to play.
