Free Will

[Jaxl]

In the context of atheism, is there such a thing as free will? Or are all decisions made simply the result of neurons, dendrites, action potentials, and molecules bouncing around in my head?

If there is no free will, does this mean all actions committed are simply reactions to what has occurred around you rather than an actual conscious decision to do something?

[Zen Badger]

Since the actions of emergent systems can never be accurately modelled there is always room for random chance.

As an emergent system the mind is capable of random and therefore unpredictable actions.

Therefore freewill exists.

[genkaus]

In the context of atheism, is there such a thing as free will?

Yes.

Or are all decisions made simply the result of neurons, dendrites, action potentials, and molecules bouncing around in my head?

Yes, that's true as well.

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Since the actions of emergent systems can never be accurately modelled there is always room for random chance.

As an emergent system the mind is capable of random and therefore unpredictable actions.

Therefore freewill exists.

I disagree with your premise that existence of freewill requires the capacity for random and unpredictable actions.

[pocaracas]

As far as I'm aware, not being a biologist, anatomist, psychologist, nor any other -gist, I'd say that the neuron network of the brain performs a possibly pre-determined action with each thought process.
Some neural pathways are preferred due to the individual genetic makeup.
However, each such thought process will change the network, any interaction with the outside world also causes a change to the network. This is what we call learning, or experience.

At a higher abstraction level, thoughts appear random, learning appears faulty, recall appears selective. The individual appears to have choice, based on the inputs from past and present...
Freewill seems likely. But the underlying system must be based on physical laws and must be deterministic.... however complex this system is, however chaotic, however inscrutable...

[Zen Badger]

Since the actions of emergent systems can never be accurately modelled there is always room for random chance.

As an emergent system the mind is capable of random and therefore unpredictable actions.

Therefore freewill exists.

I disagree with your premise that existence of freewill requires the capacity for random and unpredictable actions.

Why?

[genkaus]

I disagree with your premise that existence of freewill requires the capacity for random and unpredictable actions.

Why?

Because it assumes that free will tautologically implies freedom from causality.

[Beeblebrox]

In the context of atheism, is there such a thing as free will?

Free will has nothing to do with atheism, because atheism does not equal scientific scepticism. However, if you're a scientific sceptic, then the concept of free will should appear to be impossible.

Or are all decisions made simply the result of neurons, dendrites, action potentials, and molecules bouncing around in my head?

If there is no free will, does this mean all actions committed are simply reactions to what has occurred around you rather than an actual conscious decision to do something?

Yes, that's pretty much it. Sam Harris, a neurologist, writer and debater, has written books and done several talks regarding free will, I highly recommend checking him out.

Here's a great talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCofmZlC72g

Since the actions of emergent systems can never be accurately modelled there is always room for random chance.

As an emergent system the mind is capable of random and therefore unpredictable actions.

Therefore freewill exists.

I don't understand your process of thought.
Unpredictable actions does not equal free will, it can at best dismiss some rather strict defintion of determinism. Most advocates of determinism today accept that there could be random occurrences in a brain, as a supplement of strict determinism.

[Minimalist]

In the context of atheism, is there such a thing as free will?

In the "context" of atheism there is no invisible sky-daddy to interfere.

[Cyberman]

In the context of the OP, couldn't it be the case that exercising free will causes all that brain activity, rather than being the result of it? To the marionette of the mind, who holds the strings and how would we tell the difference anyway?

[Whateverist]

I suspect we have just as much room for maneuver in our actions after studying philosophy as we did before. Anyone who thinks that all their actions are predetermined and then justified after the fact, should really try to get a meal ordered at a restaurant without making a decision. Our unconscious minds do not always care about the tasks that concern us consciously enough to alleviate us of all involvement. We make our decisions based on our imperfect and always evolving knowledge of our likes and dislikes. These likes and dislikes are not ours to choose, but neither are they altogether known to us. More often we have to get it wrong before we know what our preferences truly are, and I doubt very seriously that all our likes and dislikes are known in advance at any level of consciousness whatsoever. If that's all there is to determinism, I see no reason to be concerned.