“Men at some times are masters of their fate.”- the quote from Cassius in the play Julius Caesar, takes an interesting approach when discussing the controversial relationship between free will and determinism. To think that one’s life is completely determined with only one possible outcome is very close minded while at the same time, those who believe nothing in their lives is determined are brutally wrong. When looking at this complex relationship, think of it in terms of what has already been determined for you and what hasn’t been, giving you the opportunity to express your ability of free will. After analyzing several sources including Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut and Is “Everything determined?” by Stephen Hawking while also including personal experiences and other various sources, you will be able to understand this complex relationship between determinism and free will.

There are things in our life that we just can’t determine or change ourselves, making the idea of total free will an illusion or non-existent. When you think about it in terms of what you already know about yourself you will begin to realize all of the factors already determined in your life. For starters, at some point in time you are going to die; death is an inevitable part of life that can not be changed or avoided in any way. Another determined item in your life would be the DNA which you are composed of-the DNA that makes you who you are. When you’re born you are stuck with whatever DNA you are made up of, unless of course you are amongst the world of Gattica, where genetics are hand picked, ensuring a quality newborn with perfect qualities for every baby being produced. Since this isn’t the case, Hawking likes to refer to Darwin’s theory of natural selection as a form of determinism. It was fate that natural selection would weed out any weaker organisms as earth was forming and continued to evolve. It was basically inevitable that evolution’s advance of DNA would replace any other forms of life, a process that free will had no say in. Hawking discusses that there is technically scientific theories and equations that have potential to reveal the fate of everything on earth. This science is so complex that nobody would be able to comprehend it, giving off the illusion of free will. “Is everything determined? The answer is yes, it is. But it might as well not be, because we can never know what is determined.” Hawking describes the complexity of the relationship. explaining how everything is in fact determined, but to us we can’t tell. Shifting to a more religious viewpoint on the topic, Calvinism, a protestant branch of christianity founded by John Calvin in the middle of the 16th century, has a major belief in predestination. Predestination in Calvinism refers to the idea that God decides or determines who is going to receive eternal salvation or eternal damnation right when every person is born. This idea of predestination actually caused problems in several places including colonial America, when some settlers figured no matter how good or bad they acted on earth, their actions wouldn’t affect their eternal outcome. This idea that people’s free-will becomes an illusion or non-existent, is a prime example of endpoints that are determined in one’s life (or at least if you are a Calvinist). Going back to Hawking, we are introduced with an idea that maybe God and Science have a relationship that create determinism for humanity, “Indeed, one could always say that the laws of science are the expression of the will of God.” Hawking is saying that one can believe God controls science, which controls our determined fate. Where we end up in life has already been determined on a complex scientific scale, and Hawking is going to the next level by involving religion with this science. Despite his recognition of the fact that our fate has already been determined, Hawking still tells us that everything is determined, “But it might as well not be, because we can never know what is determined.” Shifting gears to a more peculiar way to be looking at determinism, Vonnegut paints an abstract, but clear picture of what determinism looks like with his made up planet of Tralfamadore. “We know how the Universe ends...Earth had nothing to do with it except that it gets wiped out, too...We blow it up experimenting...A Tralfamadorian test pilot presses a starter button, and the whole universe disappears…He has always pressed it, and he always will. We always let him and we always will let him. The moment is structured that way.” (117) In this scene, the main character, Billy, is asking why the alien race of Tralfamadore can’t change the outcome of Earth’s fate by choosing not to press the button that will end Earth’s existence. In essence, the reply he received outlined the concept of determinism. In their eyes Earth’s fate was something that was already decided, and things that are already decided cannot be undone, free will becoming non-existent. Connect back to our lives today and we’ll find many things including the several examples I’ve described so far, that have already been determined for us, making free-will not apply.

Even with all of the predetermined factors in our lives, there are essentially countless opportunities where we can demonstrate our power of free-will. Throughout Vonnegut’s novel, Derby’s doomed fate is relentlessly instilled into the reader’s brain; Derby was to be shot and killed by firing squad in Dresden. Over and over again, his fate was told and told again, telling the reader that his fate was clearly determined and there was no way out of it. “Poor old Derby, the doomed high school teacher, lumbered to his feet for what was probably the finest moment in his life. There are almost no characters in this story...But old Derby was a character now.” (164) That being said, as seen in the quote above, Derby exercised his power of free-will by standing up for himself in what earned him the title of being a character through Billy’s eyes. Was his end fate changed and Derby saved from the firing squad? No. Did he still exercise his power of free-will? Yes. Although Derby’s fate had already been decided with zero chance of it changing, he still had the ability to use free-will. This is an excellent example portraying the idea that there are things that are determined for us, and things that we have a say in. Shifting back to Hawking’s piece, he describes sciences and theories ensuring us that there is in fact a way to determine fate. But I remind you that he also says, “But it might as well not be, because we can never know what is determined.” When thinking of fate and free-will in terms of what we know and don’t know, how our life will turn out and where we’ll end up falls under the ‘don’t know’ category. Since we don’t know what our fate is, we ultimately have the power of free-will to make most decisions in our lives. The ability of free-will to determine things that weren’t determined for me in my life is very evident for me. In my religion, I believe that my actions are what determines my eternal fate which heavily contrasts the beliefs of the Calvinists whose moral foundation is based of predestination. Even with my religion based off of free-will, I already know that the fact that I will die on earth some day has been determined and there’s no way around it. What I don’t know is whether I will rise to heaven or descend to hell after my death on earth. It is up to me to determine my own fate on the situations that haven’t been decided for me, and I will use my power of free-will to ensure my ascension into heaven after my time here on earth.


Consider thinking of your life as if there was a timer ticking down, and when that clock stops ticking is when your life ends. No matter what, when that clock stops ticking so does your heart, and there’s nothing you can do about it. What you do until that clock stops ticking is entirely up to you. The power of free-will is at your fingertips to determine your own fate throughout your journey to the end of the ticking to where your fate has already been decided. There are many things in life that you just can’t change or alter, some you’re born, some are just inevitable. But there are also countless things that you do have control of, and it is how you utilize your free-will on the things you are capable of, that will determine the quality of your life leading into things that are already determined for you.