[freedomfiter2]

The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer said, as Einstein paraphrased it, that “a human can very well do what he wants, but cannot will what he wants.”



Well said. The will is a slave to the heart.

[Dark Skies]

bump

[tadowe]

Freedom says, "Well said. The will is a slave to the heart." VI personalities can spout hyperbole like Schopenhauer does here, but let a layman try erecting such a strawman argument! The "will" in one usage is DIFFERENT than that which Schopenhauer tries to infer it is . . .!!! This is a snide crack at religion . . .

[TruthSetsUFree]

"The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer said, as Einstein paraphrased it, that “a human can very well do what he wants, but cannot will what he wants.”

Well said. The will is a slave to the heart.

Actually, this is untrue and indeed what liberals believe. That's how they can cover for a man like Saddam, and overlook their hero Clinton's devastating missteps.

However, our will is not a slave to our heart but rather to our mind. We can choose to do what our feelings rebel against doing. However, when we choose to believe/think on Truth, our will and our feelings will follow suit.

"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:32)

"For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he." (Proverbs 23:7)

[tom paine 2]

"I think; therefore I am; I think.

[aruanan]

The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer said, as Einstein paraphrased it, that “a human can very well do what he wants, but cannot will what he wants.”

Well said. The will is a slave to the heart.

That's not quite what this says. It doesn't say that you cannot choose whether or not to act on what you want, it just says that what you want is not an act of will. In saying that desire is not an act of will, it is also not saying that the scope and quality of one's desires is not amenable to choice.

Learning to control the output of one's actions in spite of the input of one's desires is the essence of learning to live a moral life. Those who aren't even aware of the difference are mostly under the age of six. Those who know but don't care are mostly hedonists or criminals.

[Cheburashka]

Well said. The will is a slave to the heart.
---
The will might be a slave to the heart, but the mind is not.

1) I wanted to drink, so I did.

2) I wanted to drive, so I did.

3) I hit and killed that woman and her 4 children.

4) Since I am merely a meat puppet, what purpose is served by punishing me? I don't have free will - when I get out I will drink and drive again. Because I don't have free will.

The logical extension of this is laws are useless, they can't control people, so why have them?

That way brutal and murderous anarchy and the death of society lie. I killed him because I'm a meat puppet, I molested the child because I'm a meat puppet, I cheated on my taxes because I'm a meat puppet. (Ya think the IRS will buy that one?)

Laws and punishment have utility only if people can control their will. It adds additional incentive to those who might otherwise be inclined to follow their will. Punishment and the threat thereof can only work if the mind can control the will.