The Washington times., 1920-08-01
Is mans will really free?

Gan we ACT anu pan 90 VIC
choose, regardless Of passions,
emotions and inclinations inherited
through millions of years? Or are
we only apparently self-ruling and
in reality machines wound up and
run by three main springs, SELF
preservation, instinct Of repr0duc-
tion, and ambition?
Samuel Johnson said, "Sir, we
know that the will is free, and
there's an end Of it," Yet johnson
could not keep from excessive eat
ing and drinking that Nilled him
too soon. He could not even drop
his trick of touching the posts and
skipping the sidewalk cracks as he
walked along.
Religion tells US the will is free.
IL It were not, it would not punish
US in hell or reward us in heaven
for doing the right or wrong thing.
The automobile that breaks down
and the one that runs true are
neither rewarded nor punished;
they are machines. One class OF
thinkers have no high opinion OF
manis power TO rule himself. They
say: Under many forms and dis
guises pleasure and pain have an
absolute empire over conduct. The
will is nothing more than the last
and strongest desire, or IT is like
a piece of iron surrounded by mas
nets and necessarily drawn by the
most powerful, or Gas has been in
geniously i'm agined) like weather
cock, conscious of it's own motion,
but not conscious of the winds that
are moving it," J.,
Those that declare the will free
say that will and desire are abso-
lutely separate. Coleridge COM
pared will and desire TO THE co.
instantaneous yet reciprocal action
of the air and the vital energy of
the lungs in breathing
Thus men have argued back and
forth for centuries. The Will is
free" says one. 1T is not free,
says another. We are self-govern-
ed beings, responsible to God Tor
our conduct, says one. We are
mere machines, wound up and
bound TO wigglc as we are wound,
says another, and the power that
wound us up Is responsible.
Others, like Burke, take half and
half view. II is the prerOgative OF
man to be in a great degree crea.
ture OF his own making. The will,
according to Burke, is free only TO
a great degree
What is your answer to the ques-
tion most important to the entire
human race? Is man. 5 will free,
or is he an automaton built to ft a
certain place in the conscious ami
NAL life of one tiny planet?
Does this answer seem to have
any value?
Mans desires that seem to over
power his will were and are nee
essary part of his equipment as an
animal, enduring hard life on this
planet for the pleasure he gets out
OF it.
Mans will expresses the soul.
separate and apart from the animal
inheritance. very weak now. usu-
ally overpowered in important
struggles, but destined to rule in
the end
Men used to cat their aged
parents as a matter of course
rather than starve. They would
have told you the body says eat
and the will cannot control under
such circumstances. But will has
been at work, getting stronger
through the centuries, and YOU
would, with difficulty. find now a
child eating father or mother under
any circumstances.
Lecky asks and dismisses these
questions:
How does the body affect hap
piness?
What slight causes bring about
failure in life?
How does morality influence
happiness?
He SAYS: II is easier 10 I'm
prove character than intellect.
Naturally, for good character
is largely negative, it means not
doing wrong things. Intelligence
is positive, it means actual con-
struction, the doing of good
things.
This question will interest
women:
In childbirth, where mother or
child must die. should the doctor
destroy the unborn child or save
it and let the mother die!
Lecky says: "ln such cases
Protestant or frec-thinking pbysi-
clan would not hesitate to save the
adult life as by far the most valu-
able. The Catholic doctrine is that
under such circumstances the first
duty OF the ply ysician Is to save the
life OF the unbaptized child"
1t is the understanding Of this
writer that there exists in the
Catholic Church no hard and fast
rule on the subject, and that, un-
der certain circumstances, a child
unborn may receive effective bap-
tism. Authoritative enlightenment
would be of interest.
Many and different arc the Ques-