Who is responsible, for my actions (choices, choice, point of view)

[Somkid]

Who is responsible for my actions? I see many people on RF say there is no free will so, I want to know who thinks what. Please explain your answer.

[Francine]

Originally Posted by Somkid

Who is responsible for my actions? I see many people on RF say there is no free will so, I want to know who thinks what. Please explain your answer.

Every free will choice is a miniature "first cause" that initiates a new chain of cause and effect which has no prior explanation. All the consequences of that choice can be laid at the doorstep of the person who makes it, unless another free agent intervenes somewhere down that chain by making a choice of his own. This buffers God, the author of the true First Cause, from the evil choices we make later on.

[Scarlett Wampus]

The question is context sensitive - there is no point of view that is consistent in all cases. There is also no reliable "first cause" to be found, not that it matters if you want/need there to be.

I don't think there is any ultimate metaphysical answer to the question because of Anatta so the poll answers are all wrong/right. There are just answers that can make more sense than others, even if they're essentially empty of anything essential.

For instance, I talk and think in terms of personal responsibility even though I understand that there is nothing about "me" as an individual that is separate from the collective. It just wouldn't help most situations at all if someone said, "You did this!" and I replied, "We're all one, and none."

[Sunstone]

As a practical matter, you should take responsibility for dealing with what happens in your life. That not only means you should take responsibility for dealing with the consequences of your own actions, but it also means you should take responsibility for dealing with any consequences other people's actions have on you. To refuse to deal with something that happens to you simply because you do not feel you have a responsibility to deal with it is often a very silly position to maintain.

[YmirGF]

Originally Posted by Somkid

Who is responsible for my actions? I see many people on RF say there is no free will so, I want to know who thinks what. Please explain your answer.

The individual is always repsonsible for their actions, period. I have not run across anyone, of any note, that claims that "free will" does not exist. That does not preclude one from believing that there is no free will, lol. Folks are welcome to believe whatever they wish and therein lies the beauty of "free will".

[Scarlett Wampus]

Originally Posted by YmirGF

The individual is always repsonsible for their actions, period. I have not run across anyone, of any note, that claims that "free will" does not exist. That does not preclude one from believing that there is no free will, lol. Folks are welcome to believe whatever they wish and therein lies the beauty of "free will".

What about people who say the idea can get kinda meaningless because to distinguish between free-will and not-free-will would require knowing both, and how exactly would we know for sure whether we were acting from one or the other?

[Melancholy]

I and I alone are responsible for the choices I make.
You could argue of any outside influence adding to the decisions we make throughout our lives and though true to an extent, we allow orselves to make decision based on the logic or illogical reasons around us.

[Scarlett Wampus]

Originally Posted by YmirGF

The individual is always repsonsible for their actions, period. I have not run across anyone, of any note, that claims that "free will" does not exist. That does not preclude one from believing that there is no free will, lol. Folks are welcome to believe whatever they wish and therein lies the beauty of "free will".

Not that I agree with his thinking (or the tone) but I found a quote by Wei Wu Wei that sort of suggests there is no free will: -

Originally Posted by dead guy

One observes, perhaps with compassion, the rather pitiful attempts of all but the very wise to seize any loop-hole for what they call free-will. Always you find the Note, or the parentheses giving hope. They are like drowning men clutching at any objects that remain afloat. They just can not reconcile themselves to the abandonment of the notion that an imaginary entity can do whatever it wants whenever it wishes, and without reference to the Mind that imagined it.

The idea seems like suicide to them. But even if you do feel like that about it - which means that you have not understood - why cling to a last pitiful remnant of illusion as though it could save you from anything but enjoying clear vision at last! And if it is suicide - is not that just what you seek - the extinction of your "self," the "death" of the "old" man?

Can anyone who talks about free-will have understood? Is it not the hallmark of non-comprehension?

Is Wei Wu Wei someone who would be of no note?

[Seyorni]

A person is individually responsible for his every action. No-one else can assume his Karma.

If a Navy pilot drops a bomb on a city that kills a pregnant woman he is completely responsible for the murders. Morally there is no difference between killing a civilian on a battlefield and shooting a person in a home invasion.The Karma is 100% his. The fact that he was on a legal bombing mission, the fact that his commander ordered the mission makes no difference. A major or colonel cannot take the sins of another upon themselves. God's law trumps man's. Allegiance to God comes before allegiance to government. Man's law is morally impotent. One cannot abdicate personal moral responsibility for one's every action.

[kai]

you are responsible for your own actions/choices