Are our actions/thoughts predetermined?

in philosophy •  7 years ago 

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According to Pierre Bourdieu's concept of Habitus, the way we act and think originates from our role or position in our respective fields. This means that our perception of what is expected of us, of how we are supposed to act, of what is acceptable and unacceptable for us, is set by our social relations. The idea of grouping based on the characteristics of wealth, family name, inheritance, etc are replaced by where you went to school, the type of music you hear, what you eat, or what sports you play. Classes emerge from a web of relations and these relations are what are set your role as either one that has power or one that is seeking power in the respective field.

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Your actions are what determine your path and destination in life. If we are really bound to act and think accordingly to our role in our field then that questions the idea of a free will. Of course, this is nothing new. The battle between our freedom to choose our path and our predetermined mindset of how to act have been debated for a long time. There are some that argue that we are the captains of or own ships, that if we REALLY want something, we will go and get it. On the contrary, there are those who argue that not all of us can equally wish since our thoughts are confined to our role in our field, or society, and if our thoughts cannot conceive such wishes or deem such actions acceptable, then we will not act even though others might.

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I argue that the balance lies within each individual. Each person has been influenced by and interpreted their surrounding in a different way but is also fully responsible for their actions. A person's actions and thoughts are what are going to determine their position in the particular filed in which they find themselves in, even if their thoughts are molded by their surroundings. Therefore we must be alert of ourselves and really question what we believe in and how we act. In order to not get trapped in the finite or the infinite possibilities we must understand and maneuver around the rules of the game.

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