Does Free Will Exist or Is It just an Illusion?

Abstract

This article has the purposes to comparative studies of free will between two opinions of Hobbes and Sartre and to analysis of free will of Theravada Buddhist philosophy. From this study, it has been found that 1) Hobbes's concept is classified into determinism and involved in mechanism. It is stated that human beings seem to be machines that work according to the rules or environment. Human beings do not have free will at all because the choices and determination are influenced by the surrounding that causes behind it. 2) The concept of Sartre is classified into Indeterminism. It is different from Hobbs’s concept that is stated that human beings have free will to do any things according to their own free will. But they must be responsible for exercising their freedom without affecting the freedom of others. From Theravada Buddhist philosophy, it is compatible with both of these concepts which have the principle of intention as the beginner of law of the karma. That is if human beings have the intention, willing to think, speak, and act independently, it shows that human beings have free will which is correlated with the philosophy of Sartre. The body of knowledge reveals that Theravada Buddhist philosophy tends to be individualistic. It is explained that human beings enjoy the freedom of their way what is beneficial to themselves in various situations through emphasizing self-reminding and self-reliance. At the same time, Hobbes’ concept tends to be consistent with the teachings of Paṭiccasamuppāda according to the concept of “when this exists, so that comes to be this exists” which seems to say that human beings have no free will, nothing happens by itself, all things are connected depend on each other. These represent the state of mind which impulses human beings to think, speak, and act accordingly. Therefore, there is no free will in view of Theravada Buddhist philosophy.