Blog 6: Free will and determinism

Free will discuses ones ability to act without precaution where determinism discuses the idea that all of ones actions are premeditated. In the Movie “Minority Report” director Steven Spielberg plays with the idea that everything in fact is predetermined and that free will cease to exist yet at the end we see freedom of choice occur. In the play “Oedipus the King” the viewers are left with the impression one has free will yet will always be confronted with the fact that fate cannot be changed. So is it in fact possible that free will and determinism cannot exist without the other?

In the “Minority report”, the viewer sees a world which is murder-free thanks to a system known as pre-crime, which stops foreseen murders (predicted by precogs, foster children who were experimented on)  from happening before they are committed. With the idea that this system is for the better of mankind, the theme of the movie raises eyebrows, making one question what justice is being served if in fact these murders never take place at all? “Free Will and Determinism” by Michael Huemer, raises the idea that these precogs alter the future by predicting the actions of these individuals making their visions invalid. The pre-crime system was able to function by brainwashing society into seeing the positive of pre-crime and overlooking the flaws of the system, like all systems in fact have. At the end of the movie, we see that in fact we do have a choice other than what is pre-determined for us but we then question what say do we have in our fates if the outcome are controlled by others.

Like The “Minority Report”, “Oedipus the King” shows how destiny is predetermined. Trying to escape the reality of his father’s murder, he runs off to Thebes and becomes king, marrying his mother a short while after. Suppressing the fact that he indeed killed his father, he becomes ignorant and disobedient, ignoring the advice of the prophets who made him aware that he would be confronted with truth soon. He finally discovers he is in fact is fathers murderer and his wife was actually his mother, whom he had a child with. Oedipus was so consumed with the idea that he find the murderer, that instead of altering his destiny, he drove himself right into what was predetermined for him by nature. Unlike the case of John Anderton, in the “Minority Report” who after learning the truth of his fate finally decided he had a choice to decide his own destiny yet ultimately the same outcome arose. In both cases the two characters free will drove them to the same conclusion that is shown to the viewers.

Though both “Minority Report” and “Oedipus the King” make one question do free will and determinism coincide the outcome of the play and movie were different. “Minority Report” shows that we as humans have the ability to use our free will to change our fates. “Oedipus the King” ends with the thought that trying to escape what we are destined for will only drives us that much faster to the harsh truth of our fates. Both situations show we can take control of our lives regardless of outside forces yet sometimes those outside forces unconsciously bring us to our realities that much faster.