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.
Suppose I convince you right now that determinism is true. Would I be able to convince you that you’ve never actually done what you wanted?
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