30
votes
Why do people still believe in free will?
Most academic philosophers (around 60%, according to the PhilPapers survey) lean toward compatibilism: the view that determinism (which is what you are getting at, more or less) is compatible with ...
- 2,647
27
votes
Testing Free Will
is it possible for such agents to determine whether or not they possess free will?
A precondition for answering this question is that the term "free will" is sufficiently well defined. IMHO,...
20
votes
Why do people still believe in free will?
Schiphol's answer is correct, in that you need to first say what kind of free will you're talking about. I'm going to answer your question assuming that you're talking about libertarian free will. It'...
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16
votes
Accepted
Can I predict my future by observing all humans/events
Can I predict my future by observing all humans/events
According to Wolpert's theorem, no you can't.
What you are describing here:
I believe everything happened/happening in the universe is not ...
- 27.1k
16
votes
Accepted
Why is the statement about "Freewill is an illusion" considered profound?
The idea that free will is an illusion does not originate with Sam Harris, but is around since, at least, Spinoza (Ethics book 2 proposition 35:
men are mistaken in thinking themselves free ; their ...
- 5,124
14
votes
Accepted
How do defenders of libertarian freewill reconcile it with constraints imposed by the laws of physics?
There are ways to reconcile libertarian free will even with classical physics. One could say (as was common position in 19-th century) that the laws of nature are only approximations and do not ...
- 42.5k
14
votes
Accepted
How do adherents to Plantinga's "free-will defense" against the problem of evil explain that God is free and immune to moral evil at the same time?
The Free Will Defense against the Problem of Evil is relatively unique compared to the more common responses. Most responses fall into the general category of "God does not have omnibenevolence&...
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13
votes
Accepted
Why do modern materialists tend to favor determinism?
I tend to share your puzzlement. A lot of contemporary metaphysicians seem to have an outdated view of physics, not only about determinism but also about locality or mereology. (This was criticized by ...
- 5,830
12
votes
Nietzsche doesn't believe in free will nor in "non-free will". How come?
From a purely metaphysical perspective, Nietzsche is almost a hard determinist — there is causal order and free will is incompatible with it. The reason for "almost" is that he rejects as a ...
- 42.5k
11
votes
Aren't Determinism and Free Will indiscernible from the mortal perspective?
Your point, "Determinism and free will are not discernible from the mortal perspective" is indeed the third antinomy (paradox) of Kant. According to Kant, human capacity for knowledge is innately ...
- 3,657
11
votes
Why do people still believe in free will?
We believe in free will because — aside from a few people with particular psychological conditions — we experience ourselves as beings capable of making choices and exercising free will. When someone ...
- 18.5k
10
votes
Accepted
How does Quantum Mechanics affect the modern account of free will and determinism?
The OP quote draws a distinction between determinism ("hard determinism"), and causal completeness ("less absolute determinism"). The former means that the current physical state ...
- 42.5k
10
votes
Accepted
If hard determinism is true, why should we try to better ourselves?
Contrary to the other answer and the assumptions in your question: Hard determinism does not, in any way, mean that trying to better yourself does not work. Rather, under hard determinism, whether you ...
- 3,029
9
votes
Is the theory of evolution a good basis for an argument against freewill?
The problem of free will reads:
How to explain the subjective experience of free will (first person’s stance) by a scientific theory, dealing with objective concepts (third person’s stance).
Due ...
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9
votes
Is the theory of evolution a good basis for an argument against freewill?
If according to some compatibilist free will is something that makes sense in a social context (where the notions of personhood, of responsibility or of agentivity take their appropriate meaning) then ...
- 5,830
9
votes
Accepted
Experiment to test for the existence of free will and randomness
Firstly, we don't need randomness in order to be unable to predict future events. The universe only need one chaotic process to compromise certainty. A better test would be to take two snapshots and ...
- 2,387
9
votes
Proof for the absence of free will?
Seems like no one brought up Frankfurt and hierarchical compatabilism.
First-order desires: desires that are directed to objects or states of affairs.
We desire things like being healthy, being well-...
- 2,385
9
votes
Accepted
Strawson on Free Will: What are the most persuasive challenges to his position?
Strawson's argument is about ultimate moral responsibility not stritly about free will (although related).
The tricky phrase here is "ultimate". One can argue that free will is not about ...
- 2,143
9
votes
Accepted
The Mediocrity Principle, The Laws of Nature and Free Will
This is a coherent argument, but most of its premises are false. First, laws of science are regularities, not "laws" and all of them are broken. See 'The role of symmetry in fundamental ...
- 10.5k
8
votes
Accepted
Is the B-theory of time compatible with libertarian free will?
First, B theory is a semantic theory about the proper way to refer to events in time, not a metaphysical theory about past and future events. The view that past and future events are real is called ...
- 5,830
8
votes
How does Quantum Mechanics affect the modern account of free will and determinism?
First a point of clarification, from what you are describing, you are talking about libertarian freewill, not compatibilist freewill. More on that later.
At the heart of your question is a confusion ...
- 27.1k
8
votes
Nietzsche doesn't believe in free will nor in "non-free will". How come?
There is a Wikipedia article collecting different material of Nietzsche on the subject: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Nietzsche_and_free_will#:~:text=Nietzsche's%20analysis-,Power%20of%...
- 3,463
7
votes
What are some replies to the deterministic argument against free will?
If determinism is true, the will is not free.
1.1 Determinism is not true: One could argue for this from a dualist position, that the mind is separate from the body and part of a non-material ...
- 27.1k
7
votes
Is Conway-Kochen's "free will" theorem about quantum measurements an argument for panpsychism?
It is only an argument in the same sense that the Gödel theorem is an argument for transcendent truth or against AI. Mathematical theorems have no philosophical consequences unless they are conjoined ...
- 42.5k
7
votes
What counters are there to Spinoza's argument that acts of free will create infinite regress?
The meta-argument you attribute to Spinoza is closely related to the rule-following regress considered by Wittgenstein in Philosophical Investigations. To apply a rule in a particular situation we ...
- 42.5k
7
votes
Does omniscience negate free will?
As worded, I'm not sure if this is a great question, but there's a good deal of very recent literature on the precise question you seem to be raising.
Worded at it's simplest, the question is
1. ...
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7
votes
Can I predict my future by observing all humans/events
Whether or not you can predict your future actually depends on your definitions of the world. In particular, you have the emphasized "if" regarding the monitoring and processing of the data. ...
- 17.5k
7
votes
Why should I care about the person who will wake up in my bed tomorrow?
This question raises a lot of interesting problems about the continuity of self and consciousness, but I think it can be cut down with a very pragmatic, down to earth approach.
Quite simply, the idea ...
- 5,124
7
votes
Proof for the absence of free will?
This argument constructs a paradox of the type popularized by Zeno, i.e.:
one cannot do x until one has done x'
one cannot do x' until one has done x''
one cannot do x'' until one has done x'''...
...
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