Q&A: The Problem of Weakness of Will
The Problem of Weakness of Will
Question
Hello Rabbi, I happened to hear a lesson of yours about the paradox of weakness of will and the solution that a person’s entire struggle is whether to reach a state of choice. My question is: if that very tendency not to choose came about because of an impulse or some other weakness, then there is a lack of the person’s free choice here. And I know from the book The Science of Freedom that the Rabbi does believe we have free choice.
Answer
It seems to me that I noted there (there are also two columns here on the site) that one can continue to press the question of weakness of will regarding the very decision whether to choose. There too one can ask: either he is compelled to it or he chose it. I argue that he chose it, but this choice does not mean choosing to do something that he himself thinks is bad (because that is impossible), but rather choosing to look the other way. After that, the impulses already take hold of him (the horses pull the wagon once he has let the reins slip from his hands), and that is how he comes to do something bad.