Free-Will and Personal Choice

One cannot fully discuss personal choice until one has considered the ways in which we do not have choice, or those things which are not "ours" to choose. One version of the well-known serenity prayer begins with:  

"God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change;

the courage to change the things I should;

and the wisdom to know the difference."

One of the first gifts of consciousness is the gift and responsibility of Free Will (or Choice and Accountability).  

One cannot exercise choice until one has the ability to be accountable. Therefore, our ability to be truly “free” to choose our own destiny is dependent upon the progressive growth of our understanding. In scripture, it is described as by “line upon line and precept upon precept”. As children, we may learn that “sharing” makes us feel good and often results in others sharing back with us. And upon that, as adults, we may further learn that there is intangible reward in being unselfish even when we don’t receive anything concrete in return. All virtues and spiritual principles progress in this iterative learning pattern. As we learn the underlying principles and commit them to heart, our mastery of these principles deepens. In turn, the universe opens up new opportunities to grow to the next level after each achievement. But there is a common experience of disappointment that can occur directly after we successfully learn a given level of virtue, it comes because the next level presents as more difficult, and it can feel as though we are starting all over again. It is important to not lose sight of what we have already accomplished or to allow feelings of defeat or self-doubts to overwhelm our progress. Our success should remind us that we can indeed do this, because we have before. We are meant to succeed brilliantly. At every level of achieved comprehension, we earn a new degree of accountability (or responsibility). In this pattern, we become progressively more “free” to make real and impactful choices. 

When one examines the philosophy of Nietzsche, we can see an example of an argument supporting that morality must be personally tailored. He promoted the rise and conquering of perspectivism over the dogmatic absolute truth of religion for slave-morality. Nietzsche espoused that entrenched perspective of mass morality or “the sheep” must first be eliminated (leading to nihlism) before the Ubermensch might rise and re-invigorate humanity with new moral perspective and purpose. 

Nietzsche was enamored of Ralph Waldo Emerson and the Transcendentalists, which promotes a similar perspectivism-laden view. Similarly, Kant wrote on moral perspectivism.