That is the pivot upon which the whole discussion turns.
The free will party seem to think of the will as something independent
of the man, as something outside him. They seem to think that the will
decides without the control of the man's reason.
If that were so, it would not prove the man responsible. "The will"
would be responsible, and not the man. It would be as foolish to blame a
man for the act of a "free" will, as to blame a horse for the action of
its rider.
But I am going to prove to my readers, by appeals to their common sense
and common knowledge, that the will is not free; and that it is ruled by
heredity and environment.
To begin with, the average man will be against me. He knows that he
chooses between two courses every hour, and often every minute, and he
thinks his choice is free. But that is a delusion: his choice is not
free. He can choose, and does choose. But he can only choose as his
heredity and his environment cause him to choose. He never did choose
and never will choose except as his heredity and his environment--his
temperament and his training--cause him to choose. And his heredity and
his environment have fixed his choice before he makes it.