Philosophy in Other Media: Free Will by Rush

While this is a philosophy through film class, I felt that another medium that frequently utilizes philosophical basis should not be entirely ignored. That medium is music. Perhaps even more so than in film, music often contains philosophical ideas in the lyrics of a song, or even throughout an entire album. As an example of this, I would like to present the song Freewill, by Rush, that goes into the Freewill vs Determinism debate through a different light than film does.

"There are those who think that life is nothing left to chance,
A host of holy horrors to direct our aimless dance.

A planet of playthings,
We dance on the strings
Of powers we cannot perceive.
"The stars aren't aligned
Or the gods are malign"-
Blame is better to give than receive.

You can choose a ready guide in some celestial voice.
If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.
You can choose from phantom fears and kindness that can kill;
I will choose a path that's clear-
I will choose Free Will.

There are those who think that they were dealt a losing hand,
The cards were stacked against them- they weren't born in lotus-land.

All preordained-
A prisoner in chains-
A victim of venomous fate.
Kicked in the face,
You can't pray for a place
In heaven's unearthly estate.

You can choose a ready guide in some celestial voice.
If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.
You can choose from phantom fears and kindness that can kill;
I will choose a path that's clear-
I will choose Free Will.

Each of us-
A cell of awareness-
Imperfect and incomplete.
Genetic blends
With uncertain ends
On a fortune hunt that's far too fleet. "


In this song, one can actually clearly see both sides of the debate. Specifically the group is stating that they would choose to exercise freewill rather than choose to follow "a ready guide in some celestial voice". On this basis, one can see that the group is portraying both sides of the debate, but through a lens colored by the freewill side of the discussion. Determinism followers believe that every action taken in the world was "preordained" and that no matter what one does, it will follow the plans set by a "celestial voice" or a doll master that controls our "planet full of playthings". That no matter how much control we may think we have over what we do, it has all been set beforehand that you would do exactly what you do in any given situation.

Freewill thought, on the other hand, is that there is no set plan for the world and that our actions have complete control over what will happen to us in the future. This idea is most encapsulated in the line, "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice." This line is the very core of freewill thought in that even if you think you are not making the choices that dictate your life yourself, you are in reality making those choices.

In the end, what the song is saying is that you can choose to believe in a deterministic life if you so choose, but doing so is still your choice. That you can fear what you want, follow what you want, but no matter what it is your choice. And so, in response to the debate, Rush has chosen to state that you can pick what you want, but they would rather believe in that they have free will and can control their lives. This really gets to the core of the debate, which is to say that no matter which side of the debate you support, it requires belief in that side. No amount of arguing will change that fact, if one does not believe in free will, they can always turn a free will thought into a deterministic one. The opposite is also true, a deterministic thought can be converted into a free will thought (i.e. "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.") This debate has been ongoing due to this requirement of faith in order to pick either side, and once the faith is there, it is difficult to change.

~ Brandon