Are we governed by fate, free will, a greater power, or somewhere on the spectrum between?

I have been struggling with this question for a significant amount of my life. I was raised with a conservative Christian background, and have been drilled from childhood to answer (c) a higher being. Despite my familial pressures and high involvement in the church community I began losing my faith by age 12. I formally renounced the church and my faith 2 years ago. When asked what I believe instead I find that i cannot answer a,b,c or d. I believe in all and none of these things to a certain degree. I think. I do not expect this blog to get anywhere close to answering this question as it pertains to me personally but it will help me to begin gathering my thoughts.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

According to Odysseus...

All aspects of life are controlled by a higher being, or in his case beings. The entire adventure of Odysseus centers around the punishment and pity of the ancient Greek gods. However he also demonstrates free will through the epic though often with a negative outcome.
I wonder if Homer intended free will to be viewed negatively? For example when Odysseus blinds the cyclops it is to demonstrate his destructive pride but it also is a decision he made entirely of his own free will, without any interference from the gods. This independent choice lines up Poseidon against Odysseus thus setting up his obstacles for the rest of the play. I seems to me that almost all of the big decisions made are formulated and/or suggested by the gods.

According to Mr. Ramsey....

Fate is a work of the imagination. The mind is in constant control and thus free will governs each decision that we make. However, Mr. Ramsey aims to crush the free will of his children, attempting, sometimes successfully to act as the "higher being" in their lives, teaching them that life is invariably hard. Mr. Ramsey lives happily in this perfect philosophical thought bubble until the sudden death of his wife, his stability, one summer evening. As his world comes crashing down Mr. Ramsey has to accept the idea of fate as an answer to his wife's tragic death. Her death also transforms his relationship to his children although it remains quite aloof and cold the entire story. He finally takes his son James to the lighthouse as his mother promised him many years before.
This book had very little, at least that I noticed, about what governs our choices. However since it focuses so much on the interaction between characters it raises what I feel to be an important question: what about other people? We certainly are not the only ones governing our decisions. Some decisions are made for us be it by the government, or parents, our teachers, or any other people in a position on control. No decision can be made completely independently of free will, essentially eliminating it as one of the choices.