Multiple choice

If the world is deterministic, then everything is caused to happen according to physical laws. If human beings have free will, then some things are caused by human decisions. But human decisions result from a process of reasoning, which means they cannot be caused by physical laws. Therefore, if human beings have free will, then the world is not deterministic, and if the world is deterministic, then human beings have no free will. If the claims in the argument above are true, which of the following must be false?

  1. It is possible that the world is not deterministic and human beings have no free will.

  2. Evidence of quantum-phenomena in physics suggests that some things have no discoverable causes at all.

  3. Some things can be caused by both human decisions and physical laws simultaneously.

  4. Many philosophers and theologians disagree about what would establish that human beings have free will.

  5. It is a fundamental belief of certain religions that human beings have free will, and a fundamental belief of other religions that they do not.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

(3) THE CONCLUSION: If human beings have free will, then the world is not deterministic and vice-versa.

THE EVIDENCE: Human decisions result from a process of reasoning which means that  they cannot be caused by physical laws. (3) is in complete contrast to the conclusion drawn by the author. As per the argument either the world is deterministic or human beings have free will, their simultaneous existence is not talked about.

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