Hospers' view that the unconsciousness that determines what the Essay

Hospers' view that the unconsciousness that determines what the conscious impulse and conscious acts will be is correct - Essay Example The author takes a position that the unconscious is very instrumental in determining the conscious deeds. Man’s actions may be influenced by various factors depending on the prevailing conditions; some of these conditions are within their control while others are not. Hospers argues that the concept of freewill is an illusion because ‘an act is free if and only if it is a voluntary act’. Using examples, he demonstrates that acting involuntarily dominates over voluntary actions. In many quarters, the debate of whether individuals act on freewill has been demonstrated. The proponents argue that freewill is nonexistent because the influence of the unconscious dominates over an individual (Blatchford 41). Citing the situation at birth where a child learns from the environment and the process continues with further development, the argument says that the influences of all those experiences are the ones that bring out the actions of an individual. The way a person acts is not a factor of their willingness but an inner push by the subconscious. A man is a product of their unconscious since their choices are biased. Humans make choices every day. Choices are not justifiable if they do not incorporate the aspect of freewill based on non-coercion. In a case where a person finds himself or herself torn between giving their money to thieves or otherwise they take away his life, making such a decision cannot be termed as freewill because the person is not willing to do either, only that he is limited to make a choice. Whenever a person makes a choice, there are factors inherent in the person that influences the choice (British Philosophical Association 2). In his article, Hospers gives a very convincing example stating that the paralytic are unable to move their legs while the others can, depicting that the limitations are not reliant on the choice of the individual but the credibility of the choice. What gets into the mind of a person indirectly influen ces their actions. Many are the compulsions that influence the humans without their knowledge. The perception that whatever we do is based on an informed choice may be far from the truth. The influences mould people are beyond our control, it is a wrong perception based on a misplaced attitude that am acting like myself, when the reality is that the factors surrounding an individual create an experience that forms the basis of their judgments and choices (British Philosophical Association 4). The actions we demonstrate are out of our control, character formation is an aspect that is based on a myriad of factors such as environmental and genetic that is far beyond our control. The exact character developed influences what we desire that further translates to what we do. Therefore, our actions are a product of a strong inherent will within us that has no individual control, if there was a possibility an individual could act otherwise. The experiences gained in the course of life creat es a bias on the decisions made, a situation that we are unable to distinguish as unconscious. Considering the parts of the unconscious mind, it is evident that they influence every bit of a person’s being. The id is the section that seeks instant fulfillment; it touches on our instincts and primitivity. Therefore, based on the choice to be made these two factors influences the decisions we make. The choice made by a chief executive of a large corporation is based