Holbach’s The System of Nature

According to Holbach

The popular assumption that the soul acts solely on its own volition and will is incorrect. Because man is not a free agent, the soul cannot direct its own acts or determine its own will. The soul has been shown to be profoundly dependent on the functioning of the body, and would be dead without them. It, like the body, is susceptible to impulses from material and physical factors. The intellectual and moral capabilities are characterized in a physical and natural way. All elements of a person, whether genuine or deceptive, stem from physical and material senses. Thus, human being is a subject to nature’s laws, just like all the ling creatures in the universe.

When the person is born

They do not have consent or self-reliance, their thoughts come to them involuntarily, the habits they adopt are the result of those who cause them to do so, and their nature is the result of a modification done by known and unknown reasons, which act as regulators of their existence. These factors determine the way the human thinks and operates (d’Holbach 2). Nonetheless, common belief is that the person is a free agent with the ability to regulate their condition and determine their free will, despite the fact that they are shackled. It is evident in religion, because a higher being determines whether another creature deserves to be rewarded or punished (d’Holbach 2). If all of human’s deeds were necessary, there would be no need to punish those, who hurt the others.

The notion that the person is a free agent

Is a proof of human vanity that aims to differentiate them from other beings. The will equates to the adaptation of the brain that directs the rest of the organs. The actions of the human originate from a motive, the object or an idea that is refined and recalled in their mind. (d’Holbach 3). If one does not act on impulse, the causative factors are new motives and purposes, which lead their brain in a separate, original way, arousing a new motivation, which will guide his will in another direction. In the process, they will follow the standard laws from which they emancipate themselves.

Henri d’Holbach gives an illustration

Of a thirsty man and indicates that it is the thirst that leads him to look for water. If he finds the water, but it is poisoned, he will not drink it (d’Holbach 3). The false conclusion would be that he is a free agent, while in fact he is acting out of his own conservation. He further illustrates the position of the brain by comparing it with a ball which has been directed by a force that leads it in a straight line. The ball will move in a new direction if it is impacted by a much stronger impulse (d’Holbach 4). Thus, the forces of nature are the determinants of man’s will.

Deliberation occurs when one encounters two equal forces

And they cannot determine the importance of the source of the impulse. They have to choose the most probable motive which will eradicate the choice. In making the decision, they will have to determine the object that will accord them with an advantage of which it is not directed by the free will. The most forcible motive will carry the day and prevail over the other force. It presents the explanation as to why uncertainty and suspense are painful to the human (d’Holbach 5). The brain will be in a state of compression and it will be fatigued, because it is a sensitive organ, which explains human’s inconsistency, indecisiveness and unexplainable conduct.

The fact that human has choices does not prove that they are a free agent

Because when presented with many objects they are only driven to choose the one that moves them the most. The soul needs some motivation to act and does not rely purely on free will. Various motions in perpetual succession determine the actions of a human (d’Holbach 6). The idea of a person being a free agent is rooted on a deceitful notion. The causative agents of human’s activities are unreliable, and it is, therefore, difficult to study the morals of a human being.

Work Cited

Holbach, Paul Henri The System of Nature: Or, Laws of the Moral and Physical World. 1889.