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Free will vs determinism: Can you escape fate?

Diving into the modern free will debate

13th August 2021
| Professor of Philosophy at Davidson College, USA who specialises in metaphysics, free will, moral responsibility, and action theory.
1,755 words
Read time: approx. 9 mins

Most of us feel as though we can freely choose our actions. But what if this feeling of free choice is an illusion? From neuroscientists to spiritualists to philosophers, many are now arguing that the feeling of free will is a fantasy. Is your life following a set, fixed path? Are you merely a puppet on strings? Or can you decide your own fate? We cannot ignore the problem of free will any longer, writes Meghan Griffith.

 

Are we free, or are we determined? When someone asks this, I assume they mean that either we are free or we are determined. Not both. Not neither. But is this the right question? Is determinism really a threat to free will? Is it the only threat? A less controversial question might be “are we ever free, or aren’t we?”

But before getting to what’s controversial about the original question, let us spend some time considering why it’s so often asked and why each side has some pull.

Why freedom versus determinism? Philosophers characterize determinism as the idea that the past and the laws of nature dictate exactly how everything will go from that point forward. If determinism is true, everything is determined. Since we are beings in the physical world, our own brain states and behavior will be determined too. If determinism is true, what I choose to type next seems to be an inevitable result of the laws of nature plus every event (from the beginning of time) leading up to my moment of choice. There seem to be some strong intuitions for thinking determinism and free will cannot go together.

Meghan Griffith
13th August 2021

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Mike Davis 2 March 2022

We have to believe in free will - we've got no choice' - Isaiah Berlin.

josef novak 31 October 2021

I would like to respond to this line: "Being determined to control and evaluate ourselves doesn’t mean we aren’t in fact doing these things.".

This is problem of Origination: informationphilosopher (include dot) co@m/freedom/origination.lmth write this is opposite! I recommend this site to anyone who wants to learn about this problem quickly! Einstein: "In Schopenhauer's words: a man can do what he wants, but cannot will what he wants"! Decisions have to be based on some preferences, otherwise we couldn't decide between A, or B! Or even to decide randomly, has to be a preference (I Am not talking about Quantum randomness here) but a preference for random choice! Problem is new Quantum Information can't come from nothing, or be destroyed (latter is debated in scientific circles)! Also even if it were to come outside from our universe, then you run into the same problem: utube (dot) co@m/watch?v=RY7hjt5Gi-E

Critics of Libertarian Camp of free will ask themselves: so when would these decisions come from, as they can't be based on nothing! Not sure where it was written...
en (dot) wik@ipedia (dot) or@g/wiki/Libertarianism_(metaphysics)
Also check this: en (dot) wik@ipedia (dot) or@g/wiki/Infinite_regress

Galen Strawson explains Origination Problem well, BTW also dubbed as: Causa Sui, Prime Mover Unmoved en (dot) wik@ipedia (dot) or@g/wiki/Galen_Strawson

You can find more on free will pages on wiki@pedia.c@om, or informationphilosopher (dot) co@m, Stanford etc. Also interesting reading: en (dot) wik@ipedia (dot) or@g/wiki/Neuroscience_of_free_will

PS: sorry about scuffed links, this dumb website doesn't allow to post links... Or google this...

Alex Maddyson 26 August 2021

Thanks for the interesting article, I work as an aerospace engineer at the engineering marketplace <a href="https://engre.co/services/design/aerospace/">Engre.co</a> where every engineer can find an order for himself, or a client can order some services. And I often ask myself such questions, and this is where I came to there is a paradox confirming its existence, freedom: the less a person consciously believes in free will, the less his potential for readiness for self-change. The more - the higher the potential. Of course, we are able to evoke thoughts ourselves. The desire to evoke, of course, can be dictated by something, but the act itself will come from the conscious rather than from the sub- or unconscious. And if we can consciously evoke some thought in ourselves or move from one thought to another, then we can, at our will, change their neurodynamic carriers.

Vyacheslav Dianov 13 August 2021

"Free will" is nothing more than idle speculation in the absence of a person's objective knowledge. Lack of rational understanding of the human soul, its location, purpose, etc. leads to the subjectivity of their understanding. Subjectivism is outdated thinking based on the absence of genuine knowledge of the world.