Philosophy - Free Will

Philosophy - Free Will

Introduction

The mind-body problem has been the center of attention in the philosophical world for a number of centuries. The problem exists due to the difficult inherent in the reconciliation of the knowledge that we have gathered from the scientific methods that explain how the physical world works with the ability of the human bodies to respond to the conscious thoughts. This mind-body problem has direct connection with the concept of free will. This problem maintains that that it is critical to understand the relationship between determinations to power..

Discussion

The problem of mind-body exists primarily due to the excessive emotional responses that people attach to the concept of determination. Hamilton uses the Buddhist concept of anatta, which is composed of the world Atta, meaning “self” and an provides a negative connotation. Therefore, the early teachings of Buddhism maintained that everything in nature is anatta. There is a second theme that is related to the concept of Free will and Mind-Body problem that is the concept in Buddhism which maintains that human beings are composed of five primary constituents.

The five constituents as termed Khandhas in Buddhism teachings and includes the physical body, sensory impulses, appreciations, volitions and conscious awareness. Hamilton believes that this concept of Anatta maintains a central position in the Buddhist teachings however, there is a lack of direction in the Buddhist scriptures regarding the explanation of these teachings (Hamilton 2003, p19). Therefore, different monks have provided different interpretations of the teachings.

Buddhism has maintained a philosophy that does not acknowledge the free-will problem but embraces universal determinism. This can be attributed to the fact that the South Asian philosophers have put a lot of focus on understanding and explaining freedom of the spirit rather than free will. Buddhist philosophy maintains that there is a ...