Freedom and Accidents
One of the enduring debates in the history of philosophy is that which concerns the question of human freedom. This debate has produced two camps representing two seemingly diametrically opposed views about freedom: the Marxists and the existentialists. Marxists maintain that the latitude within which human freedom may operate at any given time is determined by the existing social configuration, which, in turn, is shaped by historical circumstances that unfold in accordance with the general directions in which history is moving, but which appear as unconnected accidents. Freedom is only an illusion because in the exercise of their power to choose, humans may at best only react to the various stimuli produced by social forces, which are beyond their individual control. In other words, they are only playing out the roles which have been written by history for them, but which seem like accidents to their unsophisticated eyes. Existentialists, on the other hand, would argue tha...