Determinism, Free Will, and Exposition

One of the enduring problems of modern Philosophy is often known as the 'Determinism vs. Free Will' debate, also occasionally referred to as 'Necessity vs. Freedom', and similar other titles. A movement is 'Determined'= it is the effect of a prior cause that is itself the effect of a prior cause, while a movement is the effect of 'Free Will'= it is the effect of a cause that is not itself the effect of a prior cause. One extreme view in the debate e. g. Spinoza's, is that all movements are Determined, the other, e. g. early Sartre's, is that all are the product of Free Will, with a variety of intermediate positions, e. g. Kant's that the two are different perspectives on the same event, also prominently appearing. Briefly, the Determinist argues that Free Will is an illusion, and that we are always subject to larger forces, while the opposition maintains that Free Will is a familiar, self-evident phenomenon the denial of which is an evasion of responsibility. Interestingly, and perhaps, tellingly, the closest that Aristotle comes to tackling this question is when he discusses Voluntary action, as part of his trying to establish criteria for culpability. This relatively modest treatment of the issue tends to support the hypothesis that the entire debate is framed by a specific Theological concern, namely, the question that given that God is bothomnipotent and Good, how is the existence of Evil possible? The answer provided by the predominant Western Theological tradition is that only humans can be the origin of Evil, in which case they must possess Free Will. But if this concern is the genesis of the entire debate, than it is hardly an eternal question. In contrast, the Formaterial System entails that only the Past is set in stone, but that the degree of 'Freedom', e. g. of Exposition, possible at any moment, is a function of who the Individual happens to be then, and what the circumstances are. Such a position might be too unwieldy for some of the traditional views, on any side of the question, but it seems in complete accordance with everyday experience.