Do You Believe in Free Will?

[leftyladyfrommo]

I posted this on another discussion, too. I'm just curious where people stand on this issue.

I don't believe in free will. I think everything has been predetermined and continues to be.

But I have a feeling I'm outnumbered.

[supernova]

1. Well yes, I believe in Free Will

To not have free will means I have no choice in whether I am a moral person or not.

[greyl]

2. Absolutely.

Well maybe "absolutely" is too strong a word. ;)
Our behavior is determined, to a limited but clear extent, by the various levels of static systems that we are a part of and within.
Otherwise, we are indeed quite free, and getting freer all the time.

If humans only follow the cause and effect laws of substance as determinists believe, then we don't have an authentic choice between "bad" or "good" - it's totally out of the question.
In addition to being incredibly bleak, that view doesn't add up. It offers no explanation of how things came to be this way.

edit: btw, why do you believe everything has been predetermined and continues to be?
edit2: being outnumbered isn't good reason to doubt your own opinions, in my opinion.

[leftyladyfrommo]

3. Why do I believe?

Because if I look backsward every single action that I make was determined by what happened before it. And that action was determined by what happened before that.

Even the small stuff.

I need to write what Omar said about it - his description was perfect.

[leftyladyfrommo]

4. Found it.

With the Earth's first Clay they did the last man's knead,
and then of the last harvest sowed the seed.

Yea, the first morning of creation wrote what the last dawn
of reckoning shall read.

[greyl]

6. You're begging the question

-which means you didn't give a reason for believing in determinism, you just restated that you believe in determinism.

How does this sound to you? : "If I look backward, every single action that I took was an expression of my free will and responsibility(ability to respond) to what happened before. At any moment, the circumstances in my life are a result of choices I have made before."

edit: replaced "took"

[leftyladyfrommo]

7. I am not ignoring the questions - I just don't know how to

explain it.

I just think that the ball began rolling at the beginning of time. And that each step was the cause of the next step.

I'm not sure that it really matters. What is, is. And all the discussion in the world doesn't change that.

I just don't see free will.

[Ranec]

5. Yes, I believe in my own free will.

I can see how we usually try to think of events in terms of cause and effect, but I'm a believer in chaos. Events don't just follow from one to the next. Maybe I'm confusing lack of understanding with lack of an ability to know, but I think that even in the small case of what happens to me today, I have concious choices. I certainly feel like I had pea soup for lunch on a whim.

Plus, a not-so-compelling argument is that I would feel like my life lost something important if I wasn't participating. If I was just playing out some universal script, then I think part of the interest in this life would be sapped.

This isn't to say that I shouldn't acknowledge my great good fortune to be born where and when I was born. I know that my position in this world depends mostly on the situation of my parents and their parents. I participate in my life even if I haven't been totally the one who created it.

In the end, this seems like a question we can't know the answer to. I end up just believing what fits best in my world view.