If he does not jump, it is because he wants to live and in this will to live we can read the instinct for survival, which is a print that has been put unto us by nature. If he decides to jump in order to prove his total freedom, his action will be equally determined by the need to demonstrate something.

This latter need is another characteristic that the individual was not born with but probably acquired during his life. A man who commits suicide may be considered man and madness can be connected to passions and not reason. However, no matter if one is a slave to his reason or to his passions, he is still a slave.

Happiness on the other hand is another concept which we all build in time, according to our own personal experiences. It is in our nature to search for things which make us happy. It can be argued that man doe nothing else but become what he was meant to become.

From the moment of our birth we are enrolled, independently of our will, into a race towards death. This is our nature. Everything that we do is nothing but become our nature. Our fulfilment is the fulfilment of our nature. From this perspective, the only conclusions that one can reach is that our actions are always necessarily determined and that the ideal of human freedom is a hoax.

Holbach is right from a multitude of perspectives. He draws attention to the fact that even when we make a choice, the choice we make is determined either by an object which is external to our will, either by an interior need which depends either on our blood (nature) or on some sort of belief that has been acquired through education and influences from the surrounding environment. The fact that we are...

We are genetically determined by our forefathers. Every actions that we need to react to has a cause that can not be controlled (or it can be controlled but only partially). The universe has a mechanism though which it puts things into place and every excess is followed by something that will recreate balance.
One should however wonder what is the use of making a difference between man and the nature of man. It could be argued that man and his nature are one and the same thing. Through his actions man manifests his nature and becomes it. Under these circumstances freedom becomes an issue not even worth taking into consideration.

It is true that all the actions escape our control in a manner or another. It is true that our genetic heritage, our education and the society we live in are factors which greatly condition us and "construct" us. In a certain way, all our present actions are reactions to our past (what we did and what has been done to us).

Nevertheless, I believe that one can have the power to break his pattern and abandon his past. This may lead to an identity crisis, but it would be an opportunity to create yourself from scrap. This is probably the greatest endeavour man might ever face since it involves an accurate knowledge of the self. In addition, it is certain that such a task would be most painful. It is left to each of us if is it worth it and if freedom and happiness are a possible couple.