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Essenial Secrets of Psychotherapy:
Fate, Destiny, and Responsibility
The article Essential Secrets of Psychotherapy: Fate, Destiny, and Responsibility written by Dr. Stephen A. Diamond provides an analysis of the amount of responsibility a person has over things controlled by fate, and the amount of responsibility over those things in life that fate does not affect.
A look at the
responsibilities
associated
with fate.
There is no doubt that a person is partially if not fully responsible for their actions and the insuing consequences. That being stated, how much is a person responsible for consequences caused by the inescapable force of fate? Ultimately, a person cannot be held responsible for the consequences of fate. Since fate cannot be controlled by humans, we are incapable of preventing the effects of it, and therefore are not responsible. We are the
innocent bystanders watching as a higher power exerts its work upon us. Whether or not that higher power involves spiritual beings, genetics, or whatever else there is, we are helpless against it. As Dr. Diamond writes, "Fate refers to the existential givens of life, those aspects of existence that are immutable, inexorable and inevitable, and over which we can exert little or no control." Diamond states that fate is an inevitable force, something that cannot be side stepped or avoided. This goes to further show how there is surely a higher power at work in our lives, and how responsibility factors in to that. Whether fate is good or bad in nature, it is always prevelant and is always affecting our lives. We as humans cannot be held accountable for the results of fate's work.