The Philosopher and the Lawyer

by Joseph Ikhenoba

Preface

It is a story about a man who committed suicide. When people gathered to witness the scene, a lawyer and philospher took turn to argue if the suicide was pre determined or not.


The Evbiamens woke to sight of a man who had taken his life on a tree. They gathered to discern why he committed the act. Some attributed it to his foolishness, others attributed it to fate. Two men began to argue, a lawyer and a phIlosopher.

“Taking ones life is freewill.” said the lawyer.

“ No. Its fate.” Said the philosopher.

“Every human has a free will to stir his destiny. But this man has stirred it in a bad way.” replied the lawyer.

“Never, his Creator, being Omnipotent knows all before his creation. His whole existence on earth has been documented and has little or no control over it.”Said the philosopher.

“Now, take for instance, a man who does not know the end of a street suddenly decided to start walking. He can change his course as he pleases and still complete the journey. He has his decision to make whether to turn left or right or centre.” Said the philosopher

“Good. I will ask you few questions before I present my case.” Said the philosopher.

“Alright.”Answered the lawyer.

“Do you believe his Creator knows all that will happen before his existence?”Asked the philosopher.

“Yes.” Answered the lawyer.

“Good. So, let’s consider this. Since his Creator is aware of what will happen and the man is unaware of his destiny, no matter how he decided to change his tide, he will still return to his predetermined point. Science made it known that our brain perceive impulses before they occur. So, the brain itself have little or no control over them, They are involuntary. I will give you another instance, let’s say certainly you are a creator of a pen and you know that by throwing the pen up, it will rest at a point, no matter the air resistance. Therefore, does the air resistance stop the pen from returning to a state of rest?”

“No. But it does change the direction?”

“Now, you have corroborated to my ideology. Our lives is predetermined, We can do little or nothing to change it. Rather, we will return to its status quo.”

“Do you rightly assume the Creator created man to commit suicide?”Queried the lawyer.

“I didn’t say that. Man can make his decisions, since he is rational. But can’t change fate.”

The two men continued to argue until the dead man was unfettered and taken away. Soon afterwards, rain clouds began to gather before they all left.


Rate this submission

Characters:
Dialogue:
Plot:
Wording:

You must be logged in to rate submissions


Loading Comments