revised 1/20, 1/21
Here is the opening of The Philosophy of Freedom rewritten.

1-0 Freedom or Necessity

The Historical Debate
Is a human being free in thinking and acting or compelled by the iron necessity of natural laws? Our natural inclination is to believe we are free to think out what we want to do, and then free, some of the time at least, to do it. However, most people have not sought to discover precisely what free will is, or to understand the complexities involved in these two short words. Since ancient times, the origins of human behavior have been attributed to hidden or mystical forces. From the time of the Greeks, many of the wisest figures of history have focused their ingenuity on the question of free will. This question has been a central issue since the beginning of philosophical thought.

Believers versus Science
The idea of free will has enthusiastic supporters and stubborn opponents. There are faith-based believers who, in their moral zeal, label anyone narrow-minded who can deny the obvious fact of freedom. Opposed to them are others who consider it backwardness to disregard modern scientific thinking and believe instead that the lawfulness of nature does not apply to human action and thinking.

Freedom Incompatible With Natural Law
The moralists believe free will to be our most important possession, a precious gift from God. Free will is a necessary condition in order to act ethically, to freely make a choice between right and wrong. The same thing is proclaimed by the scientifically minded as humankind's worst illusion. We naively believe we are free solely because we are unaware of the real causes of our behavior. The facts of the past combined with fixed laws of nature determine human behavior.

Freedom Compatible With Natural Law
A problem is the incompatibility of free will with Determinism. Determinism is the view that nature follows exact laws. The human being, as a part of nature, is determined by previously existing conditions. A solution to the problem has been sought by making fine distinctions to explain how free will and determinism are compatible with each other.

Consequences of Free Will
The question of freedom has religious, ethical, scientific, behavioral, and life implications. For example;

• Religion
  Free will may imply that an omnipotent divinity does not assert its power over individual will and choices.
• Ethics
  It may imply that individuals can be held morally accountable for their actions.
• Science
  It may imply that the actions of the body, including the brain and the mind, are not wholly determined by physical causality.
• Behavior
  Having free will is a matter of having control over one’s behavior. It separates human beings from everything else in the universe and makes us special.
• Life
  Freedom is felt to be extremely valuable. Many people would say that life would not be worth living without it.

Consequences of Scientific Determinism
Scientific Determinism is the view that our choices and actions are the result of pre-existing conditions. We do not have free will or the capacity to choose between alternatives. We are not responsible for our actions, cannot be blamed or praised for them, because we cannot act "against" or contrary to the forces or pre-existing conditions that compel us (psychological, social, economic, environmental, genetic). We could not have done otherwise.

A relationship exists between respect for others and free will. Without free will the human being becomes nothing more than a puppet. As automatons, we would simply do whatever we were pre-programmed to do. If individual freedom is an illusion many of our values hold less meaning such as:

• Adherence to moral codes based upon responsibility.
• Holding a person responsible for their environmental choices and actions.
• Concern for preventing social injustice.
• Personal regret for past behavior.
• Appreciation for the dedication, effort, and sacrifice of others.
• Self-respect and respect for others.
• Personal sense of value or achievement.
• Value and meaning to life that only free choices and actions can attain.
• Punishing a criminal for their crimes.

Believing in freedom and the idea of self determination is such an integral part of our life and society we may ask if we are forced to maintain that belief irregardless of the mounting scientific evidence opposing the existence of free will. If we were to accept that our assumed freedom was some kind of illusion, then to many of us life would seem bleak.

The question of freedom is too important a question to be ignored or given merely superficial consideration. Free thinking individuals expressing conscious action are needed to replace the typical unconscious behavior, control by others, and habitual thinking commonly found if we are to make progress in the various spiritual, ecological, social, political, and economic issues facing us today. What is freedom, do we, or can we participate in it? The future of humankind may depend on the answer to this question.

And one may well feel that if the soul has not at some time found itself faced in utmost seriousness by the problem of free will or necessity it will not have reached its full stature. -Rudolf Steiner, Preface to The Philosophy of Freedom


Self-Awareness Journal
As you progress through The Philosophy of Freedom your view and experience of freedom will change. At the start, what is your view and experience of the question of freedom, are you free in your thinking and acting or are you compelled by the iron necessity of natural laws?

Do you assume you are free at least some of the time without having thought about it much?
Do you possess a faith-based belief in free will?
Do you consider yourself unfree, instead compelled by such things as natural urges and social conditioning?
Does your view and experience of freedom coexist with scientific lawfulness?

In Chapter 1, Conscious Action, we will work toward becoming more conscious of why we act the way we do.