Free Will: Fact or Fiction

[Tino]

To take a stab at your question I'd need to know what it is that is actually controlling our will in the scenario that free will is an illusion.

Well, it was a rhetorical question, but if you want to run with it, I'm game. I treat the question as philosophical in nature and don't think it can be adequately answered at this time (which is why I take an agnostic position on the free will vs. determinism question).

From a naturalistic point of view (*), one could suppose that the illusion of free will could be based in biological or psychological determinism.

I don't have a strong opinion on this one way or other other - but I do find it interesting and sometimes illuminating to explore how a thing is distinguishable from the illusion of said thing.

(*) I operate under the assumption that you subscribe to naturalism (as do I), and write from that POV. If that isn't your POV, then I'd be happy to present a hypothetical from another POV.

I guess I subscribe to naturalism, if that means that I reject all supernatural claims.

Yes we could all be brains in a vat, or I could be the only sentient being in the universe and this whole forum could just be a dream I'm having. I don't see the point in considering these alternatives and their ilk.

I didn't see anything in the determinism wikis that was specific enough for me to determine what a deterministic world would look like - ie how the people in it would behave.

As for your rhetorical question, I think it gets to the heart of the matter, and I wish the no-free-willers would describe how a free-will world would look different than the world we have today.