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Soraya Perry
Mr. Adams
Intro to Philosophy Block 3
7 April 2013
Finding Soft Determinism Within Gattaca and Minority Report
Are we truly free iffrom birth or from the moment the red ball hits the
hands of a pre-crime agentwe are bound to the stifling expectations our
society has of us? If, like Vincent and John Anderton, we are subjected to a
warped practice of predestination; labeled, much like in Platos republic, with
bronze, silver, and gold souls? The films Gattaca and Minority Report both
present audiences with a reality in which human beings cannot escape the
labels their societies have placed upon them. Both Vincent and Anderton
search for a grain of freedom within the structure of their limiting societies
and, through their actions, ratify the idea that the human mind is powerful
enough to break free from the chains of utter, oppressive determinism. And
so the viewer returns to the questiondoes a human being have utmost
freedom even within such visions of a restraining, deterministic future?
Some say that Gattaca and Minority Report claim: yes, human beings
do have the ability to break away from such binding societal expectations. In
Gattaca, the protagonist Vincent proves that he is physically and
intellectually capable of embarking on a space mission despite suffering from
a heart deficiency that causes his government to dub him an invalid. In
Minority Report, John Anderton slips away from the destiny the pre-cogs have

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assigned to himremembering that he can change his fate, Anderton
chooses not to commit murder. Both plotlines showcase a man who has
defeated unjust condemnations, acted of his own accord, and exposed every
human beings ability to harness free will. Yet these themes derived from
Gattaca and Minority Report cannot be supported, as the audience does not
have a full perception of these realities. The viewer cannot say that these
films condemn absolute determinism as long as the lingering possibility that
Vincent and Anderton indeed completed their fate remains. Perhaps life as
either an invalid or murdererthe two fates presented to audiences in these
filmsis not the true destiny of the two characters. The characters may have
not escaped their fates. Rather, they may have instead fulfilled them.
Therefore, because the audience can only obtain the one-dimensional reality
of a film, any argument that these films portray a future in which human
beings have free will is illegitimate when Vincent and Anderton may have
actually been destined to fly in spaceships and end pre-crime programs.
However, I do believe it is possible for human beings to maintain some
aspect of free will within both societies. Regardless of whether or not Vincent
and Andertons lives are simply a chain of causes and reactions, they are
capable of making their own decisions in the moment. This goes along with
the theory of soft determinism, or compatibilism, which states:
In contrast to hard determinism, soft determinism says that we are
determined and are nonetheless still free. According to the soft
determinist, when the individual is the cause of his or her actions, he

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or she is said to act freely (Class Four: Soft Determinism and
Indeterminism 1).
This theory of soft determinism seems to best fit the message of both
Gattaca and Minority Report, as it is impossible to act according to ones free
within both fictional societies and there is no evidence supporting the idea
that they were following a determined path all along exists.
Andrew Niccols Gattaca and Steven Spielbergs Minority Report both
portray futuristic societies that initially seem to deny their citizens of free
will. However, when taking a closer look, the viewer can surmise that both
films fully support the theory of soft determinismVincent and John
Anderton do have the freedom to make their own choiceschoices that in
turn become causes for reactions in their future. So, does a human being
have utmost freedom even within such visions of a restraining, deterministic
future? The answer is yes.

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Works Cited
"Class Four: Soft Determinism and Indeterminism." Class Four: Soft
Determinism and Indeterminism. Philosophy.tamu.edu, n.d. Web. 07 Apr.
2013. <http://philosophy.tamu.edu/~sdaniel/Notes/96class4.html>.