Discussion "Luck swallows everything"

[Jinny]

Philosopher Galen Strawson claims that free will is impossible and that, in the end, luck swallows everything. His arguments for this are:

• You do what you do, in any given situation, because of the way you are.
• To be ultimately responsible for what you do, you have to be ultimately responsible for the way you are—at least in certain crucial mental respects.
• But you cannot be ultimately responsible for the way you are in any respect at all.
• So you cannot be ultimately responsible for what you do.

What are your opinions on this? Do you believe you have free will? Are you responsible for your actions? Is it all just luck? And how has luck affected your life so far?

I strongly believe in luck. I tend to leave things to chance the majority of the time. But this does not mean that I simply sit back and do nothing. I make plans and decisions, but life is so unpredictable that I don't believe preparing helps me relax. I'm always expecting the unexpected.

Strawson's article on free will explains it better here: https://www.terapiacognitiva.eu/cpc/dwl/strawson/FreeWill.pdf

 

[OrcWitch]

I wouldnt say the difference between me and a homeless person is just our differences of choice. Something both led us to the way we are mentally, I'm not just smart and them dumb/unmotivated.

Little things like increased cortisol due to a stressful environment will increase your likelihood of overeating. Increased stress in childhood resulting in different brain development etc.

I'm not much into philosophy but this feels right. We are developed by our environment which influences what our freewill will do. We are animals with instincts and not floating energy spheres of pure consciousness.

Personally I feel very lucky in my comfortable situation rn, despite all my misfortunes of my birth and childhood.