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Saturday, October 13. 2012

Do You Have Free Will?

Some free philosophy, from Prager University:


 


Posted by The Barrister in Fallacies and Logic at 14:33 | Comments (12) | Trackbacks (0)

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Do you have 'free will'?
Not if you don't want to.
Class dismissed.
#1 Ralph Thayer, New London (Link) on 2012-10-13 15:51 (Reply)
If you decide to forgo your free will, aren't you making the choice and isn't that an example of free will?
#1.1 mudbug on 2012-10-13 20:19 (Reply)
The speaker rather begs the question here, asserting that there is mind which is not completely overlapped by brain. So while I agree with him, he doesn't really add much to the discussion, other than expressiveness.

The antidualists believe they are consistently eroding belief in an independent free will, claiming county after county of our minds, now under the flag of brain and thus, dependent. The problem with their endgame is that events in the real world are so unpredictable - so chancey, complex, and volatile - that it doesn't take but a small amount of free will to create wildly different lives. There is a sensitive dependence on conditions at each point in human time. If you decide on a whim to drive the mountain road rather than the valley road, the outcomes might be identical, or it may change your life forever.
#2 Assistant VIllage Idiot (Link) on 2012-10-13 17:00 (Reply)
Yes...otherwise we're just Meat Puppets. And free will sounds like a better choice then Meat Puppet.
#3 BobJustBob on 2012-10-13 17:07 (Reply)
Powerful new Pro Life ad is out "Who is the abortion extremist"?

http://commoncts.blogspot.com/2012/10/who-is-abortion-extremeist-women-speak.html
#4 Steve on 2012-10-13 18:17 (Reply)
I had no choice but to watch this video.
#5 Jephnol (Link) on 2012-10-13 18:53 (Reply)
The purpose of denying that there is a free will is to justify the abridgement of human freedom. After all, if we're really not free, then there is no crime in making slaves of people.
#6 John on 2012-10-13 19:46 (Reply)
mudbug's paradox? (That'll look good in the philosophy texts a couple of generations from now.)
#7 BillH on 2012-10-13 21:01 (Reply)
Hopefully there will be a pretext that extols free will and denigrates slavery in mind an body.
#7.1 mudbug on 2012-10-13 22:18 (Reply)
Do not argue with your brain about whether or not your mind is free. The human brain does not completely contain the human mind, as any great athlete, combat soldier, or meditating yogi guarantees. Remember, the body has a mind of its own.

Everybody has had the experience of the body shouldering aside the mind to get something done FAST NOW, like avoiding a fall, right? That is by definition "freedom of the will" exploding into action. And since the brain cannot contain the body's spontaneity, the brain cannot naturally, normally, or healthily decide free will does not exist.

Old Zen saying: "If you work on your mind with your mind, how can you avoid a terrible confusion?"
#8 herbork (Link) on 2012-10-14 09:33 (Reply)
If there is no freewill, functionally, the fact is obscured in the evolution of the human psyche; no matter the position on the issue, most people continue to feel guilt for acts construed to be transgressive, signifying personal responsibility. More besides, regardless of our conclusion on the matter, we still have to decide whether we want to buy brand A toothpaste or brand B, and which socks to put on in the morning.

Me? I believe in freewill, though that decision may have been made for me.
#9 Jephnol (Link) on 2012-10-14 10:22 (Reply)
Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
#10 Theophilus on 2012-10-25 16:32 (Reply)

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