Free Will and Determinism: Integrating the Eastern and Western Perspectives - Part I
The Western Viewpoint
I’ve always wondered why philosophers are so obsessed with the question of whether we have free will. The issue didn’t seem particularly interesting to me until I embarked on this project of exploring the connections between science, philosophy, and spirituality in pursuit of a post-material future. It was then that I realized how deeply this question is intertwined with the nature of consciousness. I began by outlining the issue, asking: Free will? What’s that? Ironically, the question of free will has become central to my inquiry—not so much because of the topic itself, which may seem like abstract philosophizing to many, but because it reveals how we think and, more importantly, why we believe what we believe about reality and ourselves. After all, our lack of awareness of how we think and why we’ve adopted certain ideas and worldviews is one of the root causes of human suffering, especially in the era of social media.
So, forgive me if you (rightly) notice a fixation on this subjec…
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