"MISUSE OF VOLITIONAL TERMS
"At the outset, advocates of free will commandeer the word “choice” (and its synonyms) and boldly incorporate the thought of avoidability into the term itself, even though this is actually no part of the meaning of any volitional synonym. Instead it is merely what most believe to be true concerning human choice. This extremely common practice is completely unwarranted, and leads to much error. For a choice is simply that which is chosen or selected; man’s opinion as to whether or not choices are avoidable forms no part of the meaning of the word itself and should not be forced into it.
"It is most unwise to impose the idea of “avoidability” onto the word “choice,” as if this somehow validated the concept of freewill choice. To do so is both linguistically incorrect and logically fallacious. It is also unfair, and exposes its own prejudice. Worse still, it is deceptive, for to those who are unable to think clearly, it seems to give much credence to the idea of free will.
"Reading the idea of avoidability into the word choice is the equivalent of reading the word “flat” into the word “earth,” or the word “endless” into the word “eons”: (1) “The only earth fit to be called such is a flat one.” (2) “The only number of eons worthy of the saint’s life and the sinner’s punishment is an infinite number.” (3) “The only choice worthy of the name is an avoidable one.”
"The problem is only compounded by those who otherwise speak plainly, who may not fully realize that clarity of expression is needed on this theme as well. We are not at all suggesting any undue or gratuitous strictness, but only that we avoid being ambiguous or evasive. We must define our terms and speak clearly in order to be clearly understood, so as not to be sadly misunderstood.
“Due to common misconception, one might well suppose that only the proponent of free will believes that men do whatever they want, according to their own choice or voluntarily. Yet these are our convictions as well, and are concepts which are fully in accord with our teaching. The fact that we act according to our own choice, and, had we chosen to do so, could have acted differently than we did, is not at issue and is acknowledged by all.”
to properly understand.
