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Oct 3, 2024 · Free will, in humans, the power to make decisions or perform actions independently of any prior event or state of the universe. Arguments for free will are based on the common assumption of individual moral responsibility, among other considerations. Free will is denied by some proponents of determinism.
- Voluntarism
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- Indeterminism
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- Choice
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- Compatibilism
compatibilism, Thesis that free will, in the sense required...
- Voluntarism
Free will is the capacity or ability to choose between different possible courses of action. [1] Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, and other judgements which apply only to actions that are freely chosen. It is also connected with the concepts of advice, persuasion, deliberation, and ...
Free will skeptics argue that the subjective sense of free will is an illusion. Yet many scholars, as well as ordinary people, still profess a belief in free will, even if they acknowledge that ...
- Behavioral science has made plain that individuals’ behavioral tendencies are influenced by genetics , as well as by factors in the environment tha...
- While there are many reasons to believe that a person’s will is not completely free of influence, there is not a scientific consensus against free...
- Determinism is the idea that every event, including every human action, is the result of previous events and the laws of nature. A belief in determ...
- Yes. This is called “compatibilism” or “soft determinism.” A compatibilist believes that even though events are predetermined, there is still some...
- The more people agree with claims of free will , some research suggests, the more they tend to favor internal rather than external explanations for...
- One idea proposed in philosophy is that systems of morality would collapse without a common belief that each person is responsible for his actions—...
- Mental illness can be thought of, in a sense, as involving additional constraints on the freedom of a person’s will (in the form of rigid thought p...
- There is limited evidence that people who believe more strongly in free will may tend to perceive at least some kinds of choices—such as buying ele...
- Two concepts from psychology that bear similarity to belief in free will are “ locus of control ” and “ self-efficacy .” Locus of control refers to...
- II. Controversies
- III. Famous Quotes
- IV. Types
- V. Free Will Versus Epiphenomenalism
- VI. History
- VII. Free Will in Pop Culture
Compatibilism versus Incompatibilism: is free will compatible with determinism?
Incompatibilists — The Origination Argument: To have free will means to be the root cause of one’s own actions. If determinismis true, then our choices are caused by events in the past over which we have no control. Therefore, free will and determinism are incompatible. Compatibilists – “the ability to do otherwise”: to have free will only means that one could always do otherwise than one did, and would do otherwise if it seemed like the best way to reach one’s goals. This means that somethin...
Quote #1:
Anselm of Canterbury, a Christian monk and philosopher of the 10thCentury, expresses the paradox at the heart of Christianity. According to Christian thought, God’s grace, which brings salvation, is beyond human abilities to know or modify. Yet, free will is what makes humans morally responsible creature subject to damnation and salvation. In other words, free will is irrelevant to salvation in one sense, and the whole point of it in another.
Quotation #2:
This un-philosophical argument is probably proof enough for most people that free will is real. Unfortunately, it’s not hard to refute. Tolstoy wasn’t familiar with the idea of robots. A simple robot could be programmed to raise an arm only in response to certain stimuli; the question is, are we just more complex robots?
Incompatibilist:
Metaphysical libertarianism: Determinism is false and so free will is possible. Hard determinism:Determinism is true and free will is not possible. Hard incompatibilism:Not only is determinism incompatibile with free will but so is non-determinism; free will is impossible regardless of determinism. The event-causal account:Choices are free only so long as they are not caused, deterministically, by events outside the mind.
Compatibilist:
Volition and intellect: Free will consists of being able to select the course of action deemed best to meet one’s goals. This might be compatible with determinism. The hierarchical model:Free will consists of having “second order volitions.” A first order volition is wanting something, e.g. “I want ice cream.” A second order volition is wanting to want something – “I want to want ice cream.” In other words, free will is being able to choose your will. Reasons-Responsive View: Free will is bei...
Epiphenomenalism is the theory that consciousness is an epiphenomenon – an accidental byproduct of the brain / mind – like the fact that blood is red. The redness of blood serves no purpose and makes no difference to bodily processes (as far as I know). Blood is red because of its chemical properties, but the redness itself doesn’t have any functio...
Nearly every philosopher and religion in history has something to say about free will; we shall only sample the diversity of these view-points. Buddhism, founded around 500 BCE, addresses the problem differently from any of the western arguments we will be discussing. The Buddhist “doctrine of inter-dependent arising” states that all things, includ...
Example #1: The Oracle in The Matrix:
In the second Matrix film, Neo and the Oracle go deeper into the problem of determinism versus free will, raised in the first film. The Oracle again hints in several ways that their choices are already determined. “We’re all here to do what we’re all here to do.” She does know everything Neo is going to do, so he apparently cannot choose to do otherwise. She says that she’s there because she likes candy, hinting that their actions are determined by the way they were born, or created, in her c...
Example #2: Westworld
One thing the television show Westworlddoes particularly well is dramatize the idea that free will is an illusion. All of the robots in the show believe they are human and choosing freely, when in reality, they are entirely controlled by programs and the commands of human beings. The most powerful moments in the series may be when each of several robots learns that they are robots – that their passions, prides, desires, and plans were programmed. This should be taken in at least two ways – (1...
Various philosophers suggest that free will is also a requirement for agency, rationality, the autonomy and dignity of persons, creativity, cooperation, and the value of friendship and love [see Anglin (1990), Kane (1998) and Ekstrom (1999)]. We thus see that free will is central to many philosophical issues. 2.
Jan 7, 2002 · The first is that it is, at best, an analysis of free action, not free will (cf. Reid 1788 [1969]; Chisholm 1966; 1976, ch. 2; Lehrer 1968, 1976). It only tells us when an agent has the ability to do otherwise, not when an agent has the ability to choose to do otherwise. One might be tempted to think that there is an easy fix along the ...
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Mar 10, 2021 · 29972. Free will is the ability to choose between different possible courses of action. It is closely linked to the concepts of responsibility, praise, guilt, sin, and other judgments which apply only to actions that are freely chosen. It is also connected with the concepts of advice, persuasion, deliberation, and prohibition.
