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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 3 page paper examines the issue as it is presented in this 1998 film starring Gwyneth Paltrow. Several theorists are discussed, including Hume, in contemplating the issue. Karma is discussed as well. Bibliography lists 2 sources.
Page Count:
3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: RT13_SA520SD.doc
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
favorite topic such as what occurs in movies like Its a Wonderful Life and City of Angels. They bring up possibilities of alternate worlds. Are there angels floating in between
life and death? Are there alternative worlds such as what is featured in the Matrix? Many possibilities crop up, but the 1998 film Sliding Doors starring Gwyneth Paltrow brings up
quite a relevant theme. That is, are our lives predestined or can one move change ones destiny? In the film, whether or not Paltrow catches a train will determine her
future. Sliding Doors then suggests that what is to be is not fated. That said, certain events occur in both scenarios, suggesting that indeed, some things are fated. In studying
epistemology, or what humans really know for sure, there is much doubt. Descartes for example was quite the skeptic as he would doubt that he even exists. However, he did
not embrace the idea of predetermination. For this philosopher, it was the comprehension of free will and what was to happen that would provide a sense of curiosity. Hume on
the other hand contemplated notions of free will and determinism and came to the same conclusions as producers of Sliding Doors. That is, there is both free will and determinism.
The idea that free will and determinism are one in the same is rare, but it seems that Hume to some extent possessed such a view, also termed
compatibilism. Compatibilism is the view that "we are sometimes free and morally responsible even though all events are causally determined" (Honderich 144). Is causal determination and freedom compatible? Much of
Humes contemplation on this matter of determinism concerns the cause and effect relationship. Hume provides two definitions of causation as something that involves both priority and necessity (Honderich 379). To
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