As topics go, whether or not we have "free will" might be unanswerable. — Bitter Crank
A lot of our mental activity goes on outside of the portion that we are consciously aware of. What the brain delivers to our consciousness if pretty much fait accompli. We don't decide what we like, what we want, or what we think. Do you like strawberries? If so, did you decide to like strawberries, or did you just find them delicious?
For instance, I may have consciously decided that your topic title was interesting, but I'm not sure about that. Perhaps an unconscious predisposition compelled me to respond to you. I did not "decide" how to compose this response. It just arrived in my fingers on the keyboard. I have, however, edited what occurred to me. Was the editing an act of free will or was it the product of a fussy compulsion? Don't know. — Bitter Crank
It doesn't matter, really. Whether we free will or not, we have evolved to operate more or less successfully. We are, fortunately, not left to our devices. We require years of careful rearing before we are able to live independently. A lot of who and what we are is supplied by genes and experience before we have a choice in the matter. — Bitter Crank
‘To choose’ implies that a set of options exists *from which one chooses*. I don’t see how else ‘to choose’ could be understood. So in order for one to be able to choose their thoughts, they would have to be able to *think* of several options and choose one of them to be their next thought *without thinking their next thought in the process*, which is of course impossible.
If this is correct, does this automatically rule out the possibility of free will?
It doesn’t. To rule out the possibility of free will one will have to show that thoughts, or any action for that matter, comes from somewhere or someone else. — NOS4A2
It does not mean that you do them un-freely either. The action is generated without cause or input from anything else in the universe. There is no restraint or anything barring such actions from being committed. It is not “determined” by any other being. So how is it not free? — NOS4A2
‘To choose’ implies that a set of options exists *from which one chooses*. I don’t see how else ‘to choose’ could be understood. So in order for one to be able to choose their thoughts, they would have to be able to *think* of several options and choose one of them to be their next thought *without thinking their next thought in the process*, which is of course impossible.
If this is correct, does this automatically rule out the possibility of free will? — Paul Michael
1. If one can do otherwise, then one can do either A or not-A at the time of action.
2. If one can do either A or not-A at the time of action, then A and not-A are both possible in the same sense at the same time, which is a contradiction.
3. Therefore, one cannot do otherwise. — Paul Michael
Can we choose our thoughts? If not, does this rule out free will? — Paul Michael
‘To choose’ implies that a set of options exists *from which one chooses*. I don’t see how else ‘to choose’ could be understood. So in order for one to be able to choose their thoughts, they would have to be able to *think* of several options and choose one of them to be their next thought *without thinking their next thought in the process*, which is of course impossible. — Paul Michael
Forgive me, but I have trouble with the “ability to do otherwise” principle of free will. Many have taken it as a priori while I can hardly wrap my head around it. What matters to me, and responsibility in general, is whether he was the source of his actions. Thanks for clarifying. — NOS4A2
You haven't described anything impossible.
You have said that to choose one must select from options. But then you have mistakenly supposed that one needs to have chosen the options.
No, at most you need options. You do not need to have chosen the options.
I have option a and option b. I didn't choose those options, but that doesn't mean I didn't choose a over b when I select a over b. — Bartricks
Can we choose how much insulin our pancreas secretes? If not, does this rule out free will?
The brain does what the brain does in the same manner that the pancreas does what the pancreas does. Neither is under our direct control. That fact says nothing about free will. — T Clark
And yet we choose!
Consider the two wolves within, Stoicism, and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy...
Hence Paul's argument is flawed. Mind is recursive, not linear, conflicted, not homogenous. We have the capacity to choose what thoughts we revisit, which thoughts we act on, and what becomes habitual. Hence we can improve who we are.
Curious, that so many folk here think themselves automata.
14m — Banno
If this is correct, does this automatically rule out the possibility of free will? — Paul Michael
I have, however, edited what occurred to me. Was the editing an act of free will or was it the product of a fussy compulsion? — Bitter Crank
If I’m presented with two options, A and B, I can choose between them. The question is, can I choose the thought which chooses between them? If not, do I have any control over what I choose? — Paul Michael
If you slip on a banana peel is it an act of your free will or is it an act of the banana's free will?
Something I’ve been wondering about regarding the block universe is, does the block universe model depend on physicalism being true, or could it also work with ontologies such as monistic idealism? I’m hoping you could help me figure that one out. — Paul Michael
In slight difference to ↪Banno answer, — javra
Thoughts don’t choose between thoughts. Agents - such as one’s own conscious being - choose between thoughts. — javra
Why would agents do that? Because they are driven by thoughts, including by thoughts to choose between thoughts. Or when they are not driven by thoughts, their choices are unintended, which precludes free will too. — litewave
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