Free will and fatalism:
Do I have free will?
Constrained by:
Fatalism
Predestination- God has a plan for us all
Social norms
Parents have been influencing us since the day we were born- they are part of who we are- we cannot strictly say we are autonomous and free agents
Certain disabilities/ our physical capacity
Biological processes e.g.

Steven Pinker (philosopher):
Doesn’t think such a thing as free will in a sense of a spirit/ soul
Our behaviour is a product of physical processes in the brain
These physical processes are an amalgamation of complexities- brain too complex meaning human choices are too unpredictable.
E.g. Brain has two kinds of behaviour: hit knee with hammer and it lifts up- no choice and also, brain chooses what to have for dinner, pick up paper of put down. The second engages large amount of brain (frontal lobe), predicts consequences of behaviour.
This carves out the behaviour known as free will. We are no more than our physical brain.
Daniel Dennett (philosopher):
Conscience is a bunch of tricks as magic today is just tricks, yet it seems to be so much more
You will systematically ignore patterns of mistakes that suggest there is no conscience- they won’t take seriously that conscious is a bunch of mundane tricks in the brain
FREE WILL: they don’t believe because of the fear that if there was no free will, there would be no meaning in life. Yet, they are ill finded desires.
For billions of years, there was life but not free will. Free will is a result of evolution-greater and greater competences have evolved. E.g. dolphin has a much greater competence than e.g. a lobster. This power is natural and sets us aside from other species. We don’t just act for reasons, we represent our reasons for others. It is the key to responsibility. We are responsible because we can respond to challenges. This gives us the power/ obligation to think ahead and see the consequences of our actions, share our wisdom with each other. We have the power which gives us our obligations.
BASICALLY: believes we are humans with the power to make many complex decisions

Concept of original sin: after the fall, Augustine teaches that the sin after Adam and Eve the