Compatibilism Debunked | Free Will and Determinism

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The existence of free will is an uncomfortable subject, and a difficult intuition to let go of, if, like me, you are convinced it is illusory. One response to the implications of determinism on free will is a philosophy known as 'compatibilism', with advocates from Thomas Hobbes to Daniel Dennett. I think it fails, and thought I'd spend some time explaining why.

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[nishita]

Mom: What caused you to fail this test?
Me: Ok so the universe began 13.8 billion years ago...

[JohnCena]

It's a shame a lot of people don't want to accept determinism. But I guess they have no choice.

[jorgetorres]

Determinist: your honor it was determined for me to commit this crime.
Judge: young man it is determined that you will spend time in prison.

[KeithAdam]

The “want to want” is the perfect articulation… I’ve always thought the same. This video was like watching someone read my mind and put it into a well worded essay. Well done

[shbarry]

Love getting my monthly reminder from Alex that I’m in control of literally nothing.

[Quinceps]

You can see the guy is a consistent skeptic: "I've been Alex O'Connor...". He'd never guarantee a 100% he's himself all the time.

[DDogg]

I've always took a sort of pragmatist stance with this. "Free will" is a socially constructed word we use to describe a person's relative freedom to make a choice un-coerced. It's not really a word with any sort of hard definition -- honestly imagine what it means to have "free will" (or imagine a world in which it exists)... What does that world look like? How would a mind even function if it has no internal basis for which to make decisions? Could a free mind "store" memories in time? If so, wouldn't that storing of memories have some effect on future behavior? "Free will" is non-sensical when we break it down.

[gugusalpha]

It's fun how each time I brought Determinism in a debate, my opponent instantly gain a phD in Quantum Physics.

[ApostateProphet]

You are one of the few people who make me seriously rethink my ideas.

[powahrecords]

As Hitchens once said “I believe in free will because I have no choice” 😂

[gregoryrowlerson]

"You can do whatever you will, but you can't will what you will." I felt compelled to highlight my liking for this quote.

[idiotproofdalek]

I enjoy the illusion of free will and hope to continue to do so.

[kenbrunet]

The entire free will thing is depressing and fascinating at the same time.

[jamesrogers]

Determinism is comforting when I'm feeling down or I've done something bad. But it's really demotivating and unappealing when I'm feeling optimistic and energetic. So I live with a kind of pragmatic doublethink.

[reillychilders]

I just had a talk with my professor about determinism and he asked me what a universe with free will would like. It seriously stumped me because it seems like you would need a universe without any causal effects, but in that case it still seems like your desires would just be random and still not truly free. I'd be interested to hear your take on such a question! I'm also a 3rd year undergrad of philosophy.

[SPELTMUSIC]

when i was a kid i always had an intuition of this concept but was never able to communicate it. i always wondered why i wasnt able to make myself enjoy doing things i knew were beneficial (homework, cleaning, etc…) but i found boring or difficult.

[louicoleman]

Free Will? Does not exist ❌
Free Willy? Exists ✅



You win some, you lose some.

[_beanastronaut_]

i'm determined to not do my homework due tomorrow i guess

[derbarone]

I would consider myself a determinist, however I feel like determinism doesn't change anything about life since the illusion of choice and actual choice has literally no difference to me. As long as it feels like I can change anything it doesn't matter if it was determined in the beginning or not, the things I did had results to them so why bother if I really ever made a choice or if it only felt like that.

[benvanrensburg]

I discovered determinism at the age of 10. I said to my younger brother: "We often hear someone say that 'if I were you, I would rather do this or that', but, in fact, if I WERE you, I would do exactly as you do, because ...", and I explained about brain states, desires, inclinations, situation and past history in the language of a ten-year-old. However, however, however, ... At the age of sixty, I am still working on the perennial philosophical problem. My only 'discovery' along the way, is that the answer should not make the slightest difference to our everyday lives. Does determinism imply "they couldn't HELP it"? Or is there a hell of a lot more to say about the meaning of "helping it"? I just saw a determinist thanking his patreons, but why thank them if they couldn't help what they did, sorry, chose to do and then did? Then again, if he couldn't help thanking them ... uh ... couldn't help choosing to thank them ... whatever, if he couldn't help it, I suppose he doesn't owe me an answer. O k, I really think Alex is one of the most intelligent, most conscientious and most consistent youtube content creators in the world. Just admire the guy.