Define the term "fate." Fate can be defined as an unavoidable circumstance, event or encounter. Note that fate is distinguished by its influence outside of causal events. If someone makes a decision that leads to unintended consequences, this is not fate if those consequences could have been foreseen. For example, riding a bike without a helmet is not necessarily a prescription for injury; however, if one receives a head injury because he did not wear a helmet, this is not fate. Fate may be linked to a person's decisions nonetheless. For example, if you decide to go to the store for ice cream and subsequently meet your soul mate, this is fate.
Explain that fate in Western thought does not assume that all actions are fated, leaving room for the concept of free will and personal responsibility. Give examples of this dichotomy, such as the Christian notion that humans can resist temptation but they are also chosen by God to be His followers. Or, in harkening back to the trip to the grocery store, the shopper may have decided not to go, but as it happened, his true love was shopping, too.
Define free will. As a philosophical concept, free will must be explained briefly, as it is the flip side of fate. The concept of free will in Western thought is important because it forms the basis of many Western institutions: the right to vote, elections, due process of law and prison sentences for crimes. Skip this step if your students are knowledgeable on the philosophy of free will.
Discuss the different views of fate in philosophy. Explain how the ancient Greeks saw fate as pernicious. The Stoics saw the universe as created by God or "fate" to work exactly as it is designed to do, with every action being an expression of God from within. Fatalists believe that human acts occur by necessity --- under the guise of an omniscient God. In other words, since God can foresee all human action, no human action is out of free will.
Map changes in Western thought that have been influenced by changes in the view of fate. Christian views of charity, for example, suggest that the poor cannot help their circumstances (which are assigned by fate) but that the poor themselves can be helped.