Frodo: You're late.

Gandalf: A wizard is never late, Frodo Baggins. Nor is he early. He arrives precisely
when he means to.
We humans as a species carry the innate idea that we can control our destiny, that every
decision that we make, every twist and turn and path that we follow came not only of our own
will, but was dictated from the very beginning of our own will. That principle in itself is wrong.
However, the concept is not necessarily all incorrect. So what exactly are we able to decide in
our lives?
In our lives there are decision points, think of them like turning points in your life. These
decision points become crossroads to the future, and are one of the few times in this world where
you do have complete control over your destiny. We call them Self Forming Actions (Kane).

Robert Kane introduced this idea in one of his papers on the subject of free will, and the
human concept behind it. The simple design is that upon birth you go through life in a
deterministic course. However, when you are old enough to determine and make decisions, you
begin to encounter SFAs (self-forming actions), these SFAs have to be more than just a simple,
Do I want Apple or Pumpkin Pie it has to be a cause or motive that resounds within oneself.
These actions become pivotal turning points in your life, and decide the direction in which your
life will go. This is the only time where we as a species have the ultimate freedom of choice, that
single moment that can change life forever, much like young Frodo.
The concept can be delivered with a couple examples. The first involving a young
woman, and yourself. You are a corporate business hot-shot, you have made all the right moves
and are actually on route to your office today to make one of the biggest presentations of your

life. This will either make or break your future as a big-shot in the company, and whether or not
your disposable income increases. As you walk towards your company building, materials in
hand you look down an alley-way to see a young woman being mugged. The decision in essence
appears before you out of thin air. You, have to choose. Do you help the young lady, saving her,
or possibly injuring yourself? Or do you continue walking towards your corporate building,
because you need to guarantee this promotion. The choice is yours, and in that moment you
become free. If you choose to save the young lady, you may either save her, and possibly
become involved with her in a multitude of ways. Or you may die in the process of saving her
and lose all of life at once. Either way, the choice is fully yours.
A second prime example would be that of a modern video-game. Popular XBOX and
computer-game Elder Scrolls: Skyrim has in essence, a built in morality system. Decisions you
make in-game, change your morality meter. As for instance your morality meter goes down, you
will be less welcome in cities, often harassed, and approached for more shady opportunities.
However, if your morality meter ends up on the high side, you will be applauded and treated in a
heroic manner. Each decision you make, whether it is to take up the quest to assassinate a local
leader, or rescue a city from a vicious gang of thugs will affect the course of your game-life
afterwards. This in itself demonstrates the core idea of Kanes SFA argument.
These SFAs are the only free choice you have, anything else is predetermined by those
SFAs and environmental factors. Now that the simple foundation of Self-Forming Actions has
been established one must look at the obstacles, or counter-arguments that exist in accordance.
The idea of infinite regression is one of the prominent counter-arguments that exist
against the idea of Self-Forming Actions. The idea is as follows, if Self-Forming Actions are a
cause of free-will, and determine, the path in which your life will follow afterwards, could you

not trace the line of Self-Forming Actions, all the way back to the original SFA? And what
exactly would trigger the SFA? In-fact, due to this, the idea of what exactly causes an SFA comes
into question. Due to the fact that a Self-Forming Action has to be the result of an idea that one is
wholeheartedly behind, the idea of the original SFA is hard to believe. If everything in your life
in determined, at some point is that idea of being wholeheartedly behind something determined
in of itself? Does that lead to the idea that we can never escape deterministic natures and the
universal is always going to be in the binds of deterministic laws and ideas? The Hard
Determinist Paul Dholbach would be rejoices at the struggles that Kane is presented with,
Mans life is a line that nature commands him to describe upon the surface of the earth, without
his ever being able to swerve from it, even for an instant. Well, how does one handle the idea a
line going further back in time tracing it all the way to the beginning?
The answer is simple. Everything is determined, until the Self-Forming Actions begin.
And after that, after that Self-Forming Action, everything is determined by the previous
influence of the SFA until another SFA appears. Suddenly, both SFAs will now influence the path
of your life. The idea of the line of hard determinism can be molded into the SFA argument
beautifully, and the idea of human freedom, lives on.
In a world that often seems more determined than not, one must decide what one can do,
when the option is available. This is the idea described in Robert Kanes Self-Forming Action
arguments. Gandalf expressed it best, the most important times in life are decided by us. The
road that we travel, while not always in our control, can be manipulated just enough. That in
itself is a form of freedom.

Works Cited
1. Kane, Robert. Free Will: Ancient Dispute, New Themes. Reason and
Responsibility:
Readings in Some Basic Problems of Philosophy. Eds. Joel Feinberg and Russ
SchaferLandau Belmont, CA: Thompson Wadsworth, 2008. 445-457
2. dHolbach, Paul. The Illusion of Free Will. Reason and Responsibility: Readings in
Some Basic Problems of Philosophy. Eds. Joel Feinberg and Russ Schafer- Landau
Belmont, CA: Thompson Wadsworth, 2008. 458-463.

Determining the Precise Moment to Arrive Late

By
Chad Leiske

12/11/2013 (December 11, 2013)

IB Philosophy

Mr. Haydock
Word Count: 997