Fundamental Option

There was a concept which we were taught in college about the Fundamental Option. The way I understand it, the fundamental option is a person's basic orientation, toward good or toward evil. It is a product of that person's decisions and the fundamental option so formed in turn predisposes a person toward good or evil. Every decision we make strengthens or weakens our fundamental disposition. One consequence of this kind of thinking is that we are judged when we die not by our individual acts but based on our fundamental orientation.

In sociology, Bourdieu speaks of habitus, a person's predispositions which defines a person's horizon and makes that person likely to choose one option over another. Habitus, however, is not a structure which pre-determines choices for the person but only makes the person more or less inclined to choose one option over another.

At one point, I came to believe that Mary's yes during the Annunciation was a product of decisions she made prior to the moment of the Annunciation. She was predisposed by previous decisions she made to say yes at that moment. She could have said no but given her predispositions, she could-not-have-but-said-yes.