I hope I don't have to define Freewill but what I understand of it is that to possess it one must be able to make choices without being influenced by anything. — TheMadFool
Do you agree, then, that Freewill can't be understood because it can't be explained since that would require a causal (deterministic) model? — TheMadFool
So, in a sense, determinism is what makes having choices possible — NKBJ
The choices we make are determined by emotions (glands, hormones), logic, memory and senses. All of these things operate in a deterministic manner. I'm with Einstein on this one: free will is an illusion. — Devans99
It's contradictory to speak of choices and then claim free will is an illusion. — NKBJ
It's both. We use reason to make choices based on determined data. — NKBJ
We can never do it, but if you could put a person in exactly the same situation and state say 1000 times then I would guess them to make the same decision 1000 times out of a 1000 (even for something as arbitrary as 'will it be heads or tails?'). — Devans99
That's the thing: we can't think of free will as arbitrary. That wouldn't be any kind of freedom or will at all. — NKBJ
one must be able to make choices without being influenced by anything. — TheMadFool
I choose chocolate ice cream freely because I am only influenced by my liking for chocolate ice cream. If you have a gun to my head and promise to shoot me unless i choose vomit tutti frutti flavour, then my choice is not free, and I may well choose against my will and according to your will. — unenlightened
Well I can imagine never having had ice cream before, and having no idea what favourite would be. So I choose on a whim. Still my choice, still free, no? — unenlightened
Your whim is still going to be influenced by the tastes of foods you know you like. — NKBJ
But besides that, would you really want people going around making uncaused choices all the time?
. I think it is a matter of faith that they 'must be'. — unenlightened
Can I suggest that reasons are not necessarily causes? — unenlightened
How do you figure that? Lottery numbers are generated by computers and those have algorithms. Definitely caused and determined. — NKBJ
If a reason causes you to do something, then it is a cause. — NKBJ
It certainly seems that I can have a reason to do something and yet not do it. — unenlightened
Free will was invented as a means to exonerate the God of Abraham from the existence of evil. — creativesoul
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