Free Will and Determinism

There are multiple ways to define the
term free will. One of those definitions is
the capacity to make choices undetermined by past
events. So do you have free will?
You might say of course i do
unless i'm being forced by someone else
or i'm in an unlucky position where i
don't have any choice of action
i'm free to do whatever i please
but are you really
maybe you've heard of the word
determinism
it's the philosophical view
that all events are determined
completely by previously existing causes
but if everything is part of a cause and
effect chain
going back all the way to the big bang
how are you truly free could you really
claim to be the true author of your
actions after all you're part of this
universe and subject to the same
physical laws you're not free to disobey
the law of gravity
or free
to go without water
more than a couple of days
your brain
the thing that
should harbor this free will
is not outside of the physical universe
it's subject to the same laws
it's not exempt from the rule of
causality
your brain has evolved over billions of
years through natural selection and your
identity
your memories your likes and dislikes
have been shaped by a combination of
your parents genes
and your upbringing your environment
and all the experiences you have
gathered throughout your life
up to this very point in time right now
so imagine you're sitting in front of
the tv
deciding on what netflix movie to watch
and this choice is completely up to you
there's no boyfriend or girlfriend
telling you their own preferences it's
just you and your own mind on the view
of determinism the choice has already
been made for you by the universe
you might think
i'm gonna pick
the godfather because it's a classic and
i haven't seen it in a while
when in fact
from the point of view of the universe
or you might call it god you were always
going to pick the godfather
so you see it seems like determinism and
free will
can't both be true
the view that that is so
is what's called
incompatibilism
compatibilists on the other hand do
argue that both free will and
determinism
are true
hence they they're compatible
but their definition of free will
will most likely differ
from the definition i gave in the
beginning of this video
they define an instance of free
will as one in which an agent had
freedom to act according to their own
motivation
that is the agent was not coerced or
restrained
i personally don't find this conception
of free will really satisfying it shows
something is compatible with determinism
but that something is not what people
usually mean when they talk about free

[outsidersperspective]

Well put! Such an intriguing question. My only question is: even if determism were 100% accurate and true, would it change the fact that we experience the illusion of choice? What I mean is, it may only be the illusion of free will, but from the pov of the one who is being deceived, it is real for all intents and purposes. We must still "choose, " and as such I feel we always have a chance to veer from the predestined future.

[Kawlinz]

Let me use abstract concepts and logic to tell you that matter can only respond to the physical matter that has acted upon it.

Determinism, ladies and gentlemen.

[marvinedwards]

Determinism doesn't actually change anything, not even free will. Determinism is derived from the simple notion of reliable cause and effect. Each event is reliably caused by something, some earlier event. Each event is also the reliable cause of certain subsequent events. This "chain" of causation, in which every event is both an effect and a cause, goes back in time as far as we can imagine and proceeds into the future, also as far as we can imagine. So, that is all that determinism is, simple cause and effect. So, what is free will? Free will is when a person chooses for themselves what they will do, while free of coercion and other similar undue influences. For example, a bank robber is pointing a gun at the bank teller and demands, "Fill this bag with money or I'll shoot you". The bank teller must comply or she'll be shot. As she fills the bag with money, she is not doing so of her own free will. Her will is subject to his will, and she is no longer free to decide for herself. Note that free will is not "freedom from cause and effect", but only "freedom from coercion and undue influence". Causation, in and of itself, is neither coercive nor undue. Only specific causes, like the robber holding the gun, are coercive.

So, we find the free will event showing up in a world of perfectly reliable cause and effect. And we find events of coercion also showing up in this same deterministic world. Determinism doesn't actually change anything, not even free will.

How did people come to think that reliable causation and free will were incompatible notions? It is by the delusion that one must be free of cause and effect in order to be "truly" free. But every freedom we have, to do anything at all, involves us reliably causing some effect, whether walking to the kitchen, or choosing what snack we will have from the refrigerator. Reliable causation is the source of every freedom we have, to do anything at all. How can we be free of that which freedom itself requires? So, the notion that we must be free of causation to be "truly" free is nothing more than a paradoxical delusion.

Causal necessity is not a meaningful or relevant constraint. What we will inevitably do is exactly identical to us just being us, doing what we choose to do. And that is not a meaningful constraint. It is basically "what we were going to do anyway".

The proper understanding of Schopenhauer's quote is that causal necessity will never make you do anything against your will. Your will is reliably caused by your own motives and your own reasoning, unless, of course, you are forced to do something against your will through coercion or undue influence.

Free will is not expected to be free of cause and effect. Free will is only expected to be free of coercion and other extraordinary influences that impose a choice upon you, and prevent you from making that choice for yourself.