Philosophy Forum Discusses Religion and Free Will

Florida A&M University students and faculty expressed their opinions and beliefs during the semester’s final philosophy forum’s topic, “If God exists, do humans have free will?” at the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Auditorium.

The philosophy forum allows FAMU students and faculty to share their viewpoint on a subject that follows thought-provoking debates.  

During the discussion, many opposing views regarding God’s existence and free will provided a heated, contradictory perspectives.

At the final philosophy forum, Darien Penny shared his point of view on the subject presented.

“We have free will and God has a plan for us, but we always have options to choose from,” said Darien Penny, a Florida A&M University student.

Darryl Scriven, an alumnus and current FAMU philosophy professor, organized and invited colleagues at three previous philosophy forums this semester.

Scriven considered what topic would be interesting for people to discuss.

“I thought about all of the stuff I would’ve wanted to talk about when I was a student,” Scriven said. “It’s really just to get the campus talking and thinking about issues that we all talk about on some level in some context.

The event was an open discussion for participating faculty and students to share their beliefs pertaining to the forum’s topic.  

David Humes, a Scottish philosopher who lived during the early 1700’s, once stated that the matter of free will is one of the most problematic questions of human existence.

Brianna Gilbert, a Florida A&M student who attended the forum, shared her thoughts about the existence of God and human free will.

“We have free will because God lets you make choices on your own, even though he already knows what you are going to do,” Gilbert.

FAMU student Alexis Johnson, believes that, “Free will is how you view what free will is.”

Scriven’s concluded by saying that in the world that we live in, humans have free will, which means our actions are unpredictable and divine foreknowledge is impossible.