Free Will vs. Fate in ME

[Lady Elwen]

Anyone have any strong opinions about this? I was writing up a paper on Stoicism (belief that humans must know what they can and can't control; that fighting for choices about things out of our control eliminates freedom; that freedom is wanting what comes your way) the other night and started thinking about ME.

Is free will compromised by the workings of, say, the Valar, or things like the Ring? Or is fate still overriden by the workings of individual choice?

Any ideas? I have a few, but I think I'll let people come in before I give my two cents...

~ Elwen

[Nathron]

Interesting concept; I never really thought about it until I read this.

I guess the question becomes one of which is stronger, rather than which exists, because certainly the Valar exist, but one has to examine whether they are the same, presupposed, omniscient gods that plan out the moves of every creature that walks the earth, in which case free will becomes extremely doubtful; on the other hand, are they gods that created the world by Eru's wishes and sat back to intervene only when necessary and control the elements? Kind of a Deist perspective... Or, even if they do plan our every move, is free will strong enough to override the workings of fate by what the individual wishes to do?

I my opinion, it's a little of both, though the free will is outnumbered considerably. Things like the Ring, thought not of the Valar directly, seem to steer fate in an intended direction, though it does not control it entirely. Then again, things like Faramir or Sam's choices are a matter of free will, UNLESS the Valar conduct such decisions in light of the fact that they do not believe characters like Faramir or Sam should have ever undergone corruption.

Anyone confused now?

~ Nath