Free Will and Determinism

A collection of 198 posts

determinism

God and his Free Will Problem.

I wrote a short piece on God's free will and the issues it can cause with defining himself, and even ideas like the inability for him to commit suicide. Check it out. I threatened a second piece. Here it is (actually a repost from ages ago). Here is

determinism

God: Can He Choose His Own Qualities? Can He Commit Suicide?

The idea of libertarian free will is a contentious one, but let's assume, for the sake of argument, that it exists, because that is the general position of most theists. There is a prevailing idea that if things are great, then they are great-making properties. If they are

determinism

Some Questions Concerning Free Will

On a post I wrote about free will illusionism recently, there was a latecomer (Jan Luszczek) to the conversation who posed some questions that I would like to look at here, and throw some out for you to answer, and to get the discussion going. English is not his native

determinism

Free Will Illusionism

One approach to the growing evidence, and immutable logical philosophy, for the fact of (adequate) determinism and free will as an illusion of the mind is that of the illusionist. This position states that libertarian free will (as the ability to chose otherwise in any given situation) is indeed an

brain

Brain tests predict children's futures

This is a recent report from the BBC, detailing work carried out in New Zealand. It really builds on work presented in a superb book that I urge everyone to read, called The Anatomy of Violence by Adrian Raine, which documents the bio-social jigsaw that is the causal circumstance out

determinism

Free Will and the University of the Third Age

I had the absolute pleasure yesterday of presenting on free will at one of my local secondary schools, in their community hub, to the University of the Third Age. My opening talk was then followed by Dr Lorenzo Stafford, a psychology lecturer from the University of Portsmouth, and then Professor

free will

Free Will Does Not Logically Necessitate Evil

The Free Will Theodicy is a defensive tactic used by apologists to at least partly rebut the problem of Evil issue: why is there so much suffering in the world given an OmniGod? The theodicy states that the corollary of giving humans the wonderful gift of free will is that

determinism

The Explanatory Scope of Free Will

So I have a question. I will detail the following research. For (libertarian) ‘free will’ to be true, it has to explain the following. Or more accurately, the following has to be fully explicable within the free will hypothesis. How does it do that? The second question would be “What

determinism

There’s No Such Thing as Free Will, But we’re better off believing in it anyway.

This is the title of a recent article, by Stephen Cave, in the Atlantic that is worth reading. Let me lay out its basic premises and see if you agree. If you have read any of my books or this blog for very long, you would know that I am

Biology

On freely loving your mother...

Further to my comments to a fellow Tippling Philosopher, I emailed this a few years back: Another thing I wanted to add was the idea that the mental, the experiential, supervenes on the physical. This means that the physical in some way defines and is necessary for the mental. Another

Biblical Exegesis

Pharaoh and the Hardening of Hearts

I want to now talk about the intervening God, and how God can force people’s hands. It seems to me that Christians quite often have their cakes, and then eat them too! How greedy (though I often wonder what the point of having a cake is, if not to

free will

God's Interaction as Invalidating the Free Will Theodicy

Two thousand years ago, before he took a very long holiday indeed, God was often meddling in his own creation, interacting with people, seemingly on a whim. Nowadays, not so much. However, I want to quickly look at this idea of God interacting with the world. The problem of evil

determinism

My New Chapter on Free Will Reckoned to be Best Chapter

With the kind of self-congratulatory marketing that one has to do to get "out there", I am pleased to announce this great review of John Loftus' new anthology, Christianity in the Light of Science, has proclaimed my chapter the best in the book. Whoop! For me the

determinism

Christianity in the Light of Science

John Loftus has a another storming anthology out in which I am proud to have a chapter, Christianity in the Light of Science: Critically Examining the World's Largest Religion. My chapter is on free will, especially in the context of a judgemental god. I am really proud of

determinism

Come to my Talk on Free Will on Weds Night in High Wycombe

I am giving a talk to High Wyvombe Skeptics in the Pub on Wednesday night, so please come along if you are in the area. Details are: Wednesday at 20:00 Arts4Every1 Desborough Road, HP11 2PU High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire Join High Wycombe Skeptics for this free talk! Cash bar available,

compatibilism

Dennett, Harris and Free Will

For those who have been unaware of the fascinating conversation between Dan Dennett and Sam Harris in a bar in Banff, here it is. It seeks to bury the hatchet and clear things up over the disagreement that took place a few years ago with regard to Dennett's

Consciousness

The Argument from Format - How the Cartesian soul cannot be the originator of free will

This is a piece I wrote a number of years ago and I always interested in what people think of such ideas. It's a longer essay, so settle down this Sunday with a coffee of tea and take it in... How souls and any identifiable entity with a

atheism

Chapter on Free Will in new Loftus Book - Contributors' Copies Are here

I am very happy to have a chapter in John Loftus' new book, called Christianity in the Light of Science: Critically Examining the World's Largest Religion. It really does look to be a very good book, with some great sounding chapters from some notable authors. Some of

brain

Whitman, tumours, the neurotypical and moral responsibility

There was a famous case of a terrible shooting in 1966. Charles Whitman, an otherwise intelligent (138 IQ), ‘normal’ man, did a very abnormal thing. Charles Joseph Whitman (June 24, 1941 – August 1, 1966) was an American engineering student and former U.S. Marine, who killed seventeen people and wou

Free Will and Determinism

Libertarian Free Will Defeats the Kalam Cosmological Argument (#2)

When originally posted this some years back, I had a comment to answer on the original blog post, now here at Libertarian Free Will Defeats the Kalam Cosmological Argument. I did not want to lose all the work to a comment forgotten in the annals of blog history. So here

Free Will and Determinism

Libertarian Free Will Defeats the Kalam Cosmological Argument

Given that I have a forthcoming book about the Kalam Cosmological Argument due out in the near future, I thought I would resurrect some old ones on the KCA. Here is one from a few years back looking at the mutually exclusive natures of the KCA and libertarian free will:

determinism

The (Much Anticipated) Dawn Of Understanding - Thalia Wheatley

In The Edge they are running a series of short commentaries entitled: "2016 : What Do You Consider The Most Interesting Recent [Scientific] News? What Makes It Important?" (I think they do something like this every year). Thalia Wheatley (Associate Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College) wrote

determinism

Derk Pereboom, Kant and free will

http://youtu.be/bObzpWrhH-Q This is a nice little video to express why incompatibilism is the most robust worldview with regard to free will. This means that free will is incompatible with determinism, and that, given determinism, or even near determinism (physical indeterminacy) free will is an illusion. Pereboom refers

free will

Schopenhauer, the Will and Free Will

Man can do what he wills but he cannot will what he wills. I've always liked this quote from Arthur Schopenhauer, so much so that I thought I'd post it here, though it does have a few forms and is often misquoted, as I have no

determinism

Tom Clark's Transcript of Sam Harris' Delusion of Free Will Talk

Tom Clark, or the Center For Naturalism, and someone whom I have interviewed, has created this transcript of the excellent talk given by Sam Harris at the Dangerous Ideas event in Sydney recently. Tom has kindly allowed me to repost it here. It might not be exact, but it serves