I’ve just finished reading ‘A Clockwork Orange’ by Anthony Burgess. In it Alex is subjected to a brainwashing technique known as the Ludovico Technique which causes the subject to be repulsed by the thought of commiting acts of violence, and hence will always choose the good/right act.
In the novel, the prison chaplin voices his objections to this:
“When a man cannot choose, he ceases to be a man.”
“Does God want goodness or the choice of goodness? Is a man who chooses to be bad perhaps in some way better than a man who has the good imposed upon him?”
“Choice… He has no real choice, has he? Self-interest, the fear of physical pain drove him to that grotesque act of self-abasement. Its insincerity was clearly to be seen. He ceases to be a wrongdoer. He ceases also to be a creature capable of moral choice."
This reminds me of my good friend ‘The Problem Of Evil’ and in particular J. L. Mackie’s famous Evil and Omnipotence article, found here - http://www.ditext.com/mackie/evil.html
Mackie questioned the notion that free will caused evil, and posited the idea that God could have given mankind freedom of choice, but designed them such that their choice would always be towards the good.
Now the two situations are different, so excuse the tedious link, but it’s the age old question of free will again.
To quote the chaplin from A Clockwork Orange, “when a man cannot chose, he ceases to be a man”. It’s this belief that I disagree with, because I don’t think there is ever a situation where we cannot choose. There are always constraints on our choices, both internal and external, yet each one of our actions is chosen by us.