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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Mystery of Life Fatalism and Free Will: Which Is the Truth? The most fundamental principle governing man’s life is his “desire for life”, his efforts toward safeguarding, and preserving his “self”. Affection for one’s own self leads to emotions such as joy and grief, which in turn classify every object as useful or harmful.

Four other factors should be mentioned here: 1- Variable external factors include things we interact with every day and night by means of our senses, such as beautiful or unpleasant scenes, various colors, shapes, smells and sounds, which can all have an influence on man’s soul. The human soul, however, is capable of putting up a resistance toward them and even neutralizing them.

2- Constant external factors also form the components and relationships of man’s life, such as weather conditions, living environment, geographical factors and social customs and traditions. These factors are capable of affecting some of man’s activities. For instance, if curiosity, one of man’s primary instincts, is surrounded solely by agricultural economies, it might well begin to dwell into issues concerning land and agriculture.

3- Variable internal factors are phenomena created by the human soul without needing any action or contact with any outside factors. Thoughts, speculations, and imagination are examples of these factors, which play a significant role in man’s spiritual affairs. 4- Constant internal factors: include the positive and negative points of talents, intelligence, memory, will power, decision, instincts, curiosity, and feelings like hunger, thirst and fatigue.

In general, we consider these three factors to be effective in man’s moves: a) His affection for his own “self”, b) Attracting joy and repelling grief, which derive from man’s interest in himself, c) The four above-mentioned factors. The point fatalists claim here is that all of man’s affairs derive from his love for his own self and its results, and this cannot be possible unless these factors are considered absolutely necessary.

Some, including Hume and supporters of new physics have denied the law of causation in attempt to justify free will. We must say that the principle of causality does not conflict with man's free will. The cause and the effect are not always alike in type - this is why physicists have mistakenly thought the principle of causality is thus defied.