FATALISM OR FREEDOM 



do so. All of these steps and all of the succeed- 

 ing steps during the long apprenticeship are 

 casually related, and not the least of these causes 

 is the will to achieve, a will that can be strength- 

 ened by use and guided by wise instruction as 

 truly and as efficiently as my muscles and 'wind' 

 can be trained for a foot race." 



In so far as I thus Intelligently shape 

 my courses of action In view of ideals of 

 personal character and social responsibil- 

 ity I am also a partner in the business of 

 shaping my own Inner nature. I am en- 

 gaged in character building. My part in 

 this process is real. And these acts are 

 moral choices in the ordinary sense of this 

 term, whether or no I recognize any fur- 

 ther accountability to ethical or religious 

 ideals. And let us not for a moment lose 

 sight of the fact that all of these choices 

 which thus share In the process of fabri- 

 cating my own Inner nature, In shaping 

 my character, are natural functions of my 

 bodily organs. 



The "free agent" who makes such 

 choices and sets before himself ideals of 

 personal and social conduct is exercising 

 his natural freedom not only to express his 

 present inner nature but also to revamp 

 this nature in conformity with some new 



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