There is no evidence that we are anything more than the atoms we are made of, and if we are nothing more than the atoms we are made of, then our every thought is a physical (atomic, chemical, electrical, quantum, etc.) reaction.
Assuming there is no random element to the physical reactions we call thought, it would still be true that predicting the physical reactions we call thought is impossible – for all practical purposes – today. However, as technology advances, it will increasingly enable us to predict the physical reactions we call thought, but probably never with perfect accuracy. Also, there may be a random element to the physical reactions we call thought, in which case, predicting thought with perfect accuracy would never be possible.
Free will is thus an illusion – but an illusion so close to reality that, for all practical purposes, we do have free will.
Why bother discussing the reality of free will then?
Suppose we were intellectually lazy and thus the only reason we didn't allow punishment for crimes before they were committed was because we believed that free will was real – just because it seemed real. Then our intellectual laziness would make us vulnerable to progressive tyrants and their scientists who claimed otherwise – because they want the power to punish people for crimes not yet committed. Whereas, we who have considered the reality of free will can say that we trust no one to predict the actions of others whether free will is real or not. We trust no one to punish others for crimes not yet committed.
Like Free Speech, Free Will is a useful principle.
Although we know that some speech must be better than other speech, we also know that no government can ever be trusted to promote or censor any speech.
Likewise, although we know some people will commit crimes, we also know that no government can ever be trusted to reward or punish us for behavior not yet performed.
Just as we believe:
that government is best which operates as if all speech were equally good,
we also believe:
that government is best which operates as if free will were real.
Throughout history, those progressives who claimed to have a better way have proven to be wrong – and evil.
Hi Jim, I appreciate what you are trying to show and I agree that we ought to construct a defense of free will. You are arguing that free will is an illusion close to reality and that closeness justifies it. However, I believe that we ought to and can make a stronger case. Most of what we are is an illusion, roughly speaking, resulting from a sort of eviction from reality. Most of our lives is a search of that reality that always appears veiled and hardly accessible. In fact we are excluding ourselves from it while seeking contact with it. Since we do not know what that reality is, even in the depth of our subjective state, we do not want outside forces to interfere with that search. In other wards we want to government to protect rather than restrict freedom.
ReplyDeleteGreetings Jim, Thomas. I too appreciate both your contributions and would like to add the ability to choose, either subjectively or objectively, is (roughly) innate. We are subject to this "eviction [of] reality" and react in such a way that appears in our best interest. The extent of our interest may be simpler that what we've been led to believe. I am curious as to both of your thoughts about the following: Free [the] will from what?
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