A product of too much time in my hands... (Part 1)

Life is about making choices and we are always responsible for the course of action that we choose to take. However while we can clearly understand the meaning of being responsible for one's choices the question is; do we understand what or who shapes and guides our choice?

Those who view men and women as the progenitors and masters of their own destiny would say that choices are made by the mind, by the ideas produced by the logical reasoning of the human brain. And where do this ideas come from? It stems from within our own minds; our own consciousness, moving independently of any outside stimuli and determining the course of our actions through our own will. The "I think therefore I am" of Descartes is a clear example of this philosophy.

This kind of thinking glorifies the individual, and as such puts the individual above everything else. The world exists and history marches forward solely because of the will of human beings.

On the other hand, there are philosophies that view ideas to be a reflection of matter and that what remains constant is the material world. In the social sphere this philosophy argues that free will and the march of history is determined by social factors shaped by the material development of a given society. In this preposition individuals are seen as part of a social class that has its own psychology related to its role in the material order of the world.

The first philosophy view free will as a product of reason, while the second one view free will and reason as the product of the existing material conditions. Both philosophies was a reaction to the dominant view espoused by the catholic church regarding predestination and free will. Both philosophies denies the existence of an omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent supreme being who has determined the course of history not only of the whole human race but also that of individuals.