A3 Question #3
We just had a good discussion on the topic of free-will vs. determinism. Are we always FULLY accountable for ALL of our decisions? Or are their circumstances or instances where there are factors beyond our control that lessen our accountability? Please explain
posted by Mr. Fong | 11:10 AM
22 Comments:
It really depends on what you are born with and what you do in your life. But in the end I think that we are accountable for most of our decisions. If some one is born with a disorder and can't control, they should be cut some slack.
I disagree. I do think that some things that happen in ones life can affect the way they feel about things and the way they WANT to react, but in reality, its the free will that has the final say. I'm sure Sam would want to kill her husband after all that, but she didn't have too. in the very end, she knew what she was doing when she pulled the trigger.
i think it depends. some times people are fully accountable and other times they are not. it just depends on what types of things are going on in the situation. i would have to say most the time people are accountable for what they do.
Lauryn k
I have to say it always depends on the situation. I think in the end Yes we are accountable for our actions wither it be because of an illness, out of fear or a reaction to any situation. To a degree I sympathize with those who do it out of fear. The reason why they react they way they do is because of the suppression of their feelings and they clearly don't know how to handle all the emotions that come on. In the end something will trigger off all of those emotions, in which, could of been prevented if they saw someone about it.
There are some circumstances when one can't be accountable for their actions. Like if they are born with a disability. I think some actions deserve some sympathy, such as trying to save your own life, or a life of a loved one. No matter how we like to justify, or believe it's not so, we have control of our actions always, even through addictions or thinking there is no other way out of a situation, there is always a right and a wrong decision we must choose for ourselves. But as far as it goes for punishments or rewards of decisions, I think intent and motives need to be found, before we through down the hammer of justice.
I think that for the most part that there is free will, but there are also circumstances where mercy can intervene in the place of judgment. If a wife kills her husband because of the husband beating her over the course of several years, i believe that some mercy can be given where as if a wife kills her husband so that she can be with another man i do not think she should deserve any mercy. But who are we as humans, able to acquire the right to judge others choices?
In case you don't remember, I most definitely believe in determinism. People are so weak to give into peer pressure and are so easily influenced by other factors, it's hard to believe one is completely responsible for the said action. Not to mention the repressed feelings that drive people to make impulsive decisions which are usually uncontrollable. I do think that one should take responsibility for all their actions, but because it's not always entirely their fault, mercy should be shown.
I think that in most cases, we choose how to act and should be held accountable. but there are some situations where I think mercy should be shown. Like when Sam shot her husband, I think that deserves a little mercy, because he had been abusing her and threatening her. everyone reacts differently, so we can never know how badly someone is affected by fear.
In some cases I think that people should beheld responsible for what they did. But if someone is not all there and if they have had a traumatic past I think that they should be shown mercy. You cant hold a person accountable for things that they had no control over.
No matter what side I'd be on, there'd be some kind of exception. If I were to pick Determinism, I'd have to take note of people who quite obviously chose to commit their crimes. Similarly, if I sided with free-will, I'd be neglecting to notice that many people with personality disorders have difficulty controlling their reactions to certain things. However, while I am in the grey zone, I consider myself to be on the determinism side of that grey zone.
i think that no matter what people are responsible for what they do and they need to stop blaming it on other things! if you kill someone you should face what you have done. i dont care how they are raised or where they come from, you cant give someone who killed another person slack. they killed someone and thats it. they deserve the punishment with no simpathy!!
A lot of different experiences can affect the way people react to things but at one point they had to think about it and how that situation would end up. On the other hand if someone had a major illness I think they should be given mercy because, who knows what goes on in a brain that's ill. A brain that's healthy is already enough trouble as it is.
i am in the middle, but leaning more towards the free will side. i believe we are fully accountable for our actions, but there are alays exceptions in different cases... like chemical imbalances in the brain that cause people to think its okay to do some things. but in the ennnnnd its free will i think! but that's just me.
I think we are not fully accountable for our actions if you have a mental disorder you can't control that or if you were abused that is not within your control. I think there is a little of both though cause if you have a choice of being a sane person and murdering someone or if you are mental and murder someone that is a big difference.
I believe that there are some circumstances where we have control. When we were talking about Sam in an abusive relationship and she finally couldn't take it anymore so she killed her husband i thought that she was different. She was afraid for her life and so acted in self defense when she thought that her husband was going to abuse her again. He also told her that if she told anyone about it he would kill her. If she ran away he would probably kill her. If she was able to get him in prison, he would find her and kill her. This is what i get from the husband having a gun somewhere accessible. I think those that abuse people like that should be put in prison for life because it, to me, was a habit and wasn't going away anytime soon. Megan's example on the other hand made me a little mad because all she really cared about was the money and so she deserves everything that goes her way. Those brothers who killed or destroyed rather, their parents. I think all they deserve is death by injection. They lied about everything so why would they deserve any mercy? Nothing that they said was truthful. If someone shoots somebody 16 times and then says they love them, its obviously a lie. I believe that there are some circumstances where we aren't as responsible, though for most of our decisions are we responsible.
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I beleive that people are not always accountable for their actions and that outside influences can have such a great influence on how a person acts. For example, if you had a brain tumor in a part of the brain that has a large influence in the decision making process and you made a bad decission then it should be obvious to anyone that you are not fully responsible for that choice and that you should only be punished for what you had control over.
This was a hard topic for me to choose sides. For instance if you were maybe born with a disabilty I think you should recieve some sympathy for your actions. But I do believe that we should be accountable for most of our actions!
I believe when it comes down to it, we are accountable for our actions. It depends on the situation though because I had a lot of sympathy for the wife in that story who killed her husband beacuse he was abusing her. For me it just all depends...
I strongly believe that there are certain circumstances where we just loose it and we are not really responsible for it.Few years ago i got jumped and after that i couldnt trust nobody,and i was so fed up with anger. I remeber fews months later being in class and some guy threw a a piece of paper and i just immediatly snapped and without even thinking i got up and started hitting him with my bag and i was going crazy yelling at him..haha..Then i walked out the room and realized what i had done, and i couldnt explain what had gotten into me.
It's really hard to pin full responsibility on someone for something they did when really there is so many factors that may have caused it. If someone went and stole food from the store obviously they are responsible for the crime and should be punished as such, but there could be a lot of background story that we don't know about.
Starving Chinese family perhaps?
Anyways, I am kind of leaning towards both sides of the argument.
yes, to all the above. having said that there are obvious situations where someone might be compromised mentally and might make a mistake but might not be held accountable because of the unique inabilities. Where as those perceived as "normal" might receive a different punishment.
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