RE: Voiding Free Will
July 14, 2012 at 8:38 am
(This post was last modified: July 14, 2012 at 8:53 am by Tempus.)
(July 14, 2012 at 6:34 am)FallentoReason Wrote: I just exercised my free will when I decided to respond to this, did I not? I see free will as the ability to do as one pleases. Whether this action is good, bad, stupid, weird, pointless it doesn't matter. I'm the one that is in control of my thoughts and actions. No one or no thing controls me.
Being free of control from agents doesn't equal free will. Free will could still be negated by other things without intentions. I see the idea of free will as something that arises to assist with narrative creation in our minds. When you posted you did so acting upon preferences, which in turn were shaped by other actions you performed and events you experienced prior to that, each with their own catalysts. If physical processes act according to their various laws and principals, and you're made of physical matter, what makes you think you're exempt from cause and effect?
To be honest, I'm unclear on whether you believe the ineffable kind of free will, or the kind where simply being unrestricted in your life (in the sense that you're not being held captive, coerced into performing some task, etc) is considered 'free will', as I kind of went into on the preceding page. Actually I'd recommend this video by Dennett if you're at all interested in what I'm talking about. Obviously it's very long, so it's understandable if you don't want to, haha. He starts talking around 13 - 14 minutes in.
