Sixty second philosophy: freedom, free will, and determinism

Freedom, free will, determinism, fate, compatibilism… it can get pretty intense. I don’t know it all, but I do my best.

The simplest way to look at metaphysical freedom or free will vs other types of freedom is that metaphysical freedom is considered to be a condition of our existence, it’s a given. Whereas, political or social freedom are sort of human-made concepts. Still important and still worthwhile to achieve.

Honestly, there’s a lot I want to tell you about right now, but I don’t want to overwhelm you. There are so many different theories and thoughts around it all. Don’t worry, we’ll get there eventually!

I originally was gearing up to do today’s video on Daniel Dennet, freedom as epistemically open possibilities, and his thoughts on the metaphysical question of “could we have done otherwise”?

Then I realised that before I figuratively jump the gun, I should probably lay down some groundwork for the discussion.

And that brings us to now.

I’m not sure where I sit on the matter. I’ve always been of the mind that I should act as though I have free will, making decisions which are in my best interest, while also following some version of the categorical imperative, in an attempt to put more good into the world than bad. Whether everything is determined or not doesn’t change that for me. Maybe I’m a bit of a #compatibilist. I’m not sure. It’s not a thing I really dwell on. As you know already, in my personal life I dwell on death and authenticity more than anything else.

I’ve included some very barebones descriptions of accounts of freedom in the comments. I’ll probably expand on these in the future :)

What’s your take on free will?

[itsthelittlethings]

Freedom's just another word for "Nothin' left to lose".

[TerryUniGeezerPeterson]

Whether Free Will exists or not, people must be - and are - held accountable for their actions. Period.

[FreddyBNL]

Differentiate between free will and free choice. There is a distinct difference. Free will still allows free choice, which is in part determined by consequence. Consequence might make me decide different then what I will. It is choice that punishment tries to influence, while the will, the impulse to do bad things is, that will remains.

[itsthelittlethings]

"...cannot be held responsible."
I dont think that is a tenant of determinism.

[caricue]

Kudos for your discipline and temporal exactitude. You're the first person I've come upon that understands that determinism is a metaphysical claim about how the universe works. It is often peppered with sophistry, like talking about how you couldn't have done differently. The fact that the past is unchangeable is a given, so saying that it proves determinism is coco-loco.

I had a work colleague some years ago that was a gold-bug. He pointed out that every civilization that left the gold standard eventually collapsed. It took me a few times hearing this before the silliness of it sank in. Every civilization has fallen eventually, regardless of their monetary system, so using that as proof of his "real money" ideas was, once again, coco-loco.

[marburg]

hard determinism and superdeterminism?