Free will can be seen as freedom "to" and freedom "from". What is it freedom from?
Is free will free of logic?
Is free will free of cause and effect?
What is free will free from?
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Sign up to join this communityFree will can be seen as freedom "to" and freedom "from". What is it freedom from?
Is free will free of logic?
Is free will free of cause and effect?
What is free will free from?
Simply put: Free from Determinism. Which is often contrasted with freedom of the will. Determinism is the view that all events are determined completely by previously existing causes.
Deterministic theories arise from diverse and sometimes overlapping etiologies/considerations (eg. religion, behaviorism, physics, chemistry, biology, neurophysiology, etc.). Determinism is most often taken to mean causal determinism, sometimes characterized in physical terms as "cause and effect."
It is the concept that events within a given domain are constrained/bound by one or another form of causality in such a way that any state (of an object or event) is completely determined by prior states.
To appreciate the differing domains potentially at work, it might be helpful to contrast your own “will,” your ability to direct and control your behavior, with that of your pet [say cat or dog], or animal in the wild. Notice how you are inclined to believe that in some respects there is no difference at all (after all, all are biochemical physical entities/objects), and in other respects the difference seems vast. For instance, in apparent differences in ability to check “instinctual” dispositions/incliniations/behaviors.
As an aside, consider the difference between being "caused" as opposed to having "reasons," to do X. Which, to some extent, may be related to what you call "logic," as a possible constraint upon the will. As something the will is "free" from. Not bound by. Humans considered to be both "free" from acting, and free to act, "rationally."
Free will is literally what it says it is: the ability to exercise will free of constraint. Of course, absolute free will is a bit of a straw-man. We cannot will ourselves to be ten feet tall or to fly to Pluto (though arguably we could exercise will to develop tools that would eventually allow us to do these). But the basic idea is that if we come to a fork in the road, the act of going left or right (or turning around and going home) can be determined purely as an act of will, without coercive constraints or systematic imperatives.
Of course, getting to the state where we are capable of true freedom sometimes takes a lot of work; we need to rid ourselves of a whole lot of patterns, habits and preconceptions to really be free. But that's a different topic.
Free will is the ability (freedom) to choose one's own actions.
Free will is free from the wills of others.
Free will is free from any causal necessity.