Lately I've been contemplating the idea of free will being just an illusion, and I stumbled upon the idea that our thoughts and emotions (the two factors involved in decision making) are the product of our brains' neurology. I can't think of any way around it, much like how our digestive system automatically reacts to food and our immune system reacts automatically to viruses and bacteria, our nervous system automatically reacts to stimuli.
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Argument against free will?
- Thread starter tshred666
- Start date
CommonEnlightenment
New Member
Is time just an illusion? Perhaps a very persistent one?
Andiferous
New Member
I'm a really big fan of bumping old threads: http://www.leagueofreason.co.uk//viewtopic.php?f=9&t=3875 
Master_Ghost_Knight
New Member
And there was a discution about it here:
http://www.leagueofreason.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=9796
http://www.leagueofreason.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=9796
mick1le2pick
New Member
Yes that's how I rebut the free will defense, are brains are subjected to causality.
No if we are working with the assumption that the universe is real then it can't be.CommonEnlightenment said:
Lallapalalable
New Member
I think I even made a thread on this . I'm of the thought that no, actual free will is not real. Everything, down to which pillow I decided to sleep with last night, was determined by the properties and positions and arrangement of all subatomic particles nearly 15 billion years ago, via the argument I see you already know and agree with. However, this should not excuse people from their actions, as the atoms that compose their bodies and minds are still arranged as such to ensure that we intend or cannot control the actions we make, and those other piles of atoms have determined... wow, this is getting complicated. But I know what you mean, agree with you, and what you just enjoyed reading was my take on the matter.
. I'm of the thought that no, actual free will is not real. Everything, down to which pillow I decided to sleep with last night, was determined by the properties and positions and arrangement of all subatomic particles nearly 15 billion years ago, via the argument I see you already know and agree with. However, this should not excuse people from their actions, as the atoms that compose their bodies and minds are still arranged as such to ensure that we intend or cannot control the actions we make, and those other piles of atoms have determined... wow, this is getting complicated. But I know what you mean, agree with you, and what you just enjoyed reading was my take on the matter.If we are defining free will on the basis of information, and an understanding of that information to be knowledge about whatever we are making a decision on to be considered free will. Then it seems to me that free will is limited to understanding of the information on the subject that we are making a choice on. Although this does raise multiple other questions, i.e. what knowledge is and how do obtain it? and how do we know that we have all the information on the particular subject to make a choice, or if information is infinite or finite?