Q&A: Free Choice
Free Choice
Question
One of the conditions for free choice is that there is no other factor forcing me. Try to understand me: if the Holy One says that it is forbidden to shave with a razor, and whoever shaves with a razor receives such-and-such a punishment, then in God's world I am not really walking around freely. I can’t truly choose whatever I want. Because I don’t want pain and punishment, so I won’t shave with a razor—not because I truly chose. In other words, there is a playing field, but it has boundaries. If you do what I said, things will go well for you, and if not, it will hurt. True, I decide whether to obey Him or not, but I’m not really deciding. I couldn’t phrase this any better; I hope you understand.
Answer
It’s really not that hard to understand you. 🙂
You are mistaken, because you are confusing influence with determination. Free will means that you determine, not someone else, but there can still be influences on you (and there always are). Reward and punishment are influences, not determinations. They are tools that help you choose correctly. Sometimes they balance inclinations in the opposite direction (because sinning is pleasant, or useful, or profitable, so reward and punishment counterbalance that inclination). But regardless of those balances, free choice does not assume the absence of bias; it assumes the absence of external determination. I discussed this at length in my book The Science of Freedom and in the parallel article here on the site. There I also explained that influences not only do not contradict choice—they are what give it meaning. A choice made in a vacuum has no value. So, for example, the very fact that one thing is good and another is bad itself influences my choice, but without that, none of this would have any value. See the series of columns 126 and onward.