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Is there any good definition of free will at all? Given somebody is in situation X and has options A and B then the choice to do one or the other can either be
by danbruc 12y ago
Is there any good definition of free will at all? Given somebody is in situation X and has options A and B then the choice to do one or the other can either be completely at random or on the other extreme depend completely on the situation X (including the person with the brain and all the memories and the complete environment). Or it may be a mix of both where the situation affects the probability distribution. But none of these scenarios matches what I would call free will, making a choice that is neither random nor a deterministic consequence of the situation, but I can not even think of any mechanism outside of the spectrum from randomness to deterministic consequence.
- eseehausen 12y agoThis issue you're running into is why I think trying to think about free will in that context is a category error. The concept doesn't make sense when it's something that depends on randomness or determinism. Instead, I think it's useful to think about how we use it in actual practice, which is generally something like, "is a person more or less self-directed" where self-directed means that their actions are consistent with their observed character and expressed desires. That's not particularly satisfying if you're raised in a culture that puts a lot of value on free will as a concept, but I think it may be the best we can do.