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I don’t think “free will” is a coherent concept. I’ve never seen a definition that actually makes sense. There is no “you” besides the cells. Fundamentally, th

• onetimemanytime 8y ago
  >>There is no “you” besides the cells. OK. So if some of my "cells" decide to kill your firstborn, what say you?
  • mikeash 8y ago
    I say, you’d better hope the police find you before I do. I assume you’re setting up for one of the standard “gotchas” here, but please try something new instead.
• Dylan16807 8y ago
  Does that mean there's no difference between a thinking mass of neurons asking you to remove the brain tumor, vs. the tumor that only expresses "grow"? If you would help that person remove the tumor, you're exposing a qualitative difference between the thinky bits and the not-thinky bits. If you wouldn't, then you're absolutely ridiculous.
  • mikeash 8y ago
    That qualitative difference comes down to “disease.” I’m not sufficiently well versed in medical philosophy to give a good definition of that, but I know the distinction exists and is useful. Suicidal tendencies are also disease. If you could identify the cells responsible and the person asked you to remove them, would you? How is that different from a tumor? (And for more fun, consider the cases where a tumor is causing suicidal impulses.)