Final Paper
Freedom and Determinism
Life is a constant act of making decisions. These decisions are made according to a person’s freedom. Occasionally a person’s actions are based on a previously determined circumstance. Determinism is the theory that all the actions we decide to make, everything that happens in life, are all determined by what has previously happened (Freedom). Everything that a person does in their life is, without exception, determined. Freedom, on the other hand, is the idea that a person has freedom if and only if, that person could have done something otherwise (Freedom). A person is held morally responsible for any and all actions that they take. There are three main positions on the debate of freedom. The first, hard determinism, says that determinism is true and because it is true, no human action can be free. Second, libertarianism states that all human actions are free, so determinism is completely false. Lastly is the idea of compatibilism, which says that freedom and determinism can work together (Freedom). John Fowles’ famous protagonist from The Magus, Nicolas Urff, was cast into a labyrinth specially built for him. While Nicolas quickly learned that those around him were following scripts, he remained confused about the presence of reality, acting in a play that he did not know existed. Was Nicolas free to make his own decisions during the God game? Or, was he a pawn, fated to commit to another’s will, with no real freedom?
“The Lord Byron School, Pharoxos, Greece, requires in early October an assistant master to teach English. Candidates must be single and must have a degree in English. A knowledge of Modern Greek is not essential” (pg. 20 Fowels). Nicolas accepted the job in Greece to get away from Alison’s inquiry for marriage and the dreary England weather. “I began to hum, and it was not a brave attempt to hide my grief, but a revoltingly unclouded desire to celebrate my release” (pg. 48 Fowels). Four days after leaving England Nicolas found himself in beautiful Greece. As quickly as Nicolas fell in love with the idea of Greece, he began to hate it. His only release from the dull, “claustrophobic ambience of the Lord Byron School”, was to go on walks in the mountains of Greece (pg. 51 Fowels). Nicolas was overwhelmed with the beauty and simplicity of nature and Greece and began writing poetry again. This of course did not work out and he found himself returning to the mountains and taking in the beauty of the landscape.
In the natural landscape of the Grecian countryside, Nicolas was lonely and was searching for someone independent and different to interact with. Time and time again, Nicolas made an obvious attempt at gaining attention from the mysterious beings that lived in the villa. After taking a relaxing swim at the beach of a hidden village, he stumbled upon a towel that was laid out on the beach, on which rested a a familiar book, “one of the commonest paperback anthologies of the modern English verse”(pg. 69 Fowels). He assumed it was a woman’s and immediately wanted to find her. He was addicted to the idea of a physical relationship and he was always seeking a person to be with, needing constant admiration from women, without which he could not function. Aware of the feeling of being watched Nicolas read the marked passages that were only to familiar to him and the book’s owner, and was delighted with the shared knowledge that he and the mysterious woman possessed. While Nicolas was constantly and purposefully putting himself in situations hoping that an admirer would arrive, Conchis was exploiting this behavior to set a trap which he knew Nicolas would fall into. Conchis knew that Nicolas would wander the country-side, and eventually be drawn to the beach, and the book smelled of perfume which ignited Nicolas’ desire for affection. This fabricated curiosity got the best of Nicolas and he eventually made his way to Conchis’ door step. “Before anything else, I knew I was expected. He saw me without surprise, with a small smile, almost a grimace, on his face” (pg 79, Fowels). Nicolas needed the feeling of acceptance and he loved the idea that someone was out there waiting for him to make the right move. His longing for the perfect woman made him vulnerable to Conchis’ plan, and when he was given a reason to believe that she existed, he quickly decided he would do anything to find her.
Nicolas needed temporary companionship and he needed appraisal. It was his own narcissism that consumed him and caught him in the labyrinth of Bouroni.
“The events of the week-end seemed to recede, to become locked away, as if I had dreamt them; and yet as I walked there came the strangest feeling, compounded of the early hour, the absolute solitude, and what had happened, of having entered a myth; a knowledge of what it was like physically, moment by moment, to have been young and ancient, a Ulysses on his way to meet Circe, a Theseus on his journey to Crete, and Oedipus still searching for his destiny. I could not describe it. It was not in the least a literary feeling, but an intensely mysterious present and concrete feeling of excitement, of being in a situation where anything still might happen. As if the world had suddenly, during those last three days, been re-invented, and for me alone” (pg. 157 Fowels).
Driven by the idea of fate bringing him in contact with a beautiful woman, Nicolas became more and more interested in coming back to Bouroni every weekend. That first weekend at Bouroni, Nicolas happened upon a beautiful woman. “I had to know the owner of that young, intelligent, amused, dazzlingly pretty North European face” (pg. 157 Fowels). Nicolas fell in love with the beautiful woman, not knowing who she was, but that she had to have been the owner of the book on the beach. This idea swept Nicolas off his feet. He was lured further into the labyrinth every weekend by the dazzling woman’s secretive life and sensitive personality. Because of her he lost all sense of reality, becoming more and more lost in the labyrinth every week. When he finally realized he was being tricked, it was to late. He had dug himself into a deep hole that he could not climb out of.
Nicolas’ story was one already told, and his entire destiny was to follow the pages that had already been written for him. Conchis knew of Nicolas’ past so well that he could determine the rest of his life. “All that is our past possesses our present.” (pg 311, Fowels). Freedom is the opportunity to do otherwise, the ability to act otherwise based on an accurate and thorough understanding of the situation. The question of whether a person has freedom to do as they choose or if all of their actions are determined, is a question that has been asked for centuries. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna, God, tries to convince Arjuna, the warrior, why he should fight in the war. This act of convincing Arjuna turns out to be pointless because Krishna is God and he decides what happens. He tells Arjuna that he has already killed everyone and Arjuna simply has to be the instrument in the war and act out the part Krishna has created for him.
“Though continually performing all actions, his refuge is in me, and through my grace he attains the
eternal, imperishable home.
Having surrendered in thought all your actions to me, holding me supreme, depending upon the yoga of intelligence, be ever thinking on me.
For thinking on me, you shall by my grace sail past all obstacles; but if, falling into egoism, you pay no heed, you shall perish” (Verses 56-58, Johnson).
Krishna is the puppet master and Arjuna and all the other warriors are simply the puppets on the end of the string. They are forced to act out the role Krishna had designed for them.
Not only does the question of freedom and determinism arise in religious texts and books through out history but the question is prevalent in todays modern society. The media and advertising companies lure people into doing things these corporate powers want them to do, such as what to buy and how to vote. The common people are tricked into thinking what the big corporations want them to think. In a way, this could be thought of as determinism because the companies are running the peoples live and telling them what to do and what not to do. Like Conchis and Krishna, the corporations are the puppet masters and like Nicolas and Arjuna, the rest of the common people are puppets on the ends of the strings. These people are given the impression that they are free to make their own decisions, but in reality, they are subject to many forces beyond their control. Unfortunately, there is no clear or easy answer to the freedom and determinism debate. Personally, I don’t believe we will ever be able to answer the question. I don’t think we will ever know whether we are all puppets or if we are truly free to do as we choose.
Work Cited
Johnson, W. J., trans. The Bhagavad Gita. New York: Oxford UP, 1994. Ch. 18
Fowles, John. The Magus. Boston: Little, Brown and, 1965.
"Freedom and Determinism." Career Account Web Pages. Purdue University. Web. 06 Dec. 2011.
In Class Presentation
10 Questions
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| Krishna showing Arjuna his true self |
- Think of a number from 1 to 10
- Multiply that number by 9
- If the number is a 2-digit number, add the digits together
- Now subtract 5
- Determine which letter in the alphabet corresponds to the number you ended up with (example: 1=a, 2=b, 3=c,etc.)
- Think of a country that starts with that letter
- Remember the last letter of the name of that country
- Think of the name of an animal that starts with that letter
- Remember the last letter in the name of that animal
- Think of the name of a fruit that starts with that letter
Are you thinking of a Kangaroo in Denmark eating an Orange?
http://www.mathnews.uwaterloo.ca/Issues/mn8901/MOW2.php
- The website above is where I got the 10 questions game
- I compared The Magus to the Bhagavad Gita, where Krishna, is God and he tried to convince the warrior Arjuna to fight in the war, but all the trouble of trying to convince Arjuna was pointless. Krishna had already determined what Arjuna was going to do.
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