I like this question because people have such a difficult time agreeing to agree on definitions. The most basic question of all, "What is Free Will" never gets hashed out so that people can discuss it on common terms. So I'm more interested now in just how to define it.

It's extremely difficult for people to imagine their own non-existence (whether before birth or after death), and perhaps the only way that an existing mind can contemplate itself is to…

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“An argument which proves too much, proves nothing.” ~M.M. Mangasarian

Carl Popper popularized the concept of scientific falsifiability. He asserted that a hypothesis, proposition, or theory is observably valid only if it is falsifiable. This criteria has become a fundamental test of scientific validity. Here’s Wikipedia’s definition:

Falsifiability or refutability of an assertion, hypothesis or theory is the logical possibility…

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Introduction:

I've grown disappointed with philosophers on the subject of free will. The great philosophers of the past knew nothing about the brain. Modern philosophers contradict each other. What I've been trying to do is to stick with the knowledge we have and avoid philosophical entanglements and conjecture as much as possible. However, certain philosophical conundrums must be addressed, such as: (1) the false dichotomy of free will versus causality; (2)…

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The Internet is amazing. It hosts media of all kinds. Anybody can communicate with anybody. And you can find out anything you want to know. It's huge and complex but we don't need to understand how it works to know that it does. In the same way, we don't need to understand how the brain works to know that it does. Its electro-chemical machinations, while interesting, aren't necessary to understand in order to know that the brain deliberates. That's what it does.

Neuroscience can't yet…

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Dancing with Causality: Purposeful Steps

Free will, in the form of self-determinism, is only a big mystery if you allow your thinking to be governed by the centuries of philosophers who have never managed to figure it out. They've been arguing in circles because they've defined "free will" to fit their premises. This is because they…

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Sunday again! First off, as always, I want to say thanks to everyone for your FB LIKE's, your +1's and shares on Google+, your thumbs up on StumbleUpon, and your tweets on Twitter. So glad you all find Sunday School valuable enough that you would want to share it with others. It makes the time spent on putting each edition together absolutely worth it! Thank you! Last week's edition was viewed more than 900 times thanks to all your help. Let's see if we can reach a thousand! Spread the word.…

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hello again! thanks for once again dropping by to see what i've collected for you guys.

 

first (you know i have to tell you about the goings on with the Radio Show first!), tonight on the podcast we have Ms. Ophelia Benson joining us! Ms. Benson is a philosopher and cultural commentator who can be found posting great stuff each day at the excellent …

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A rambling post today. Fuzzy brained and foot loose!

 

  I was recently thinking about the concept of free will. It's an idea that has always bothered me, like a tickle at the back of the throat. I firmly believe in cause and effect. I firmly believe in the laws of physics and what they imply. So without an outside force, it makes sense that everything is controlled very directly by these laws. Including us. The logic behind it is fairly simple. I'm guessing it's the complexity…

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Free will can be a very contentious topic. People can't seem to agree on what it means, exactly. Much of the difficulty arises from the use of the word, "free", in the term, "free will". To be truly free would require supernatural agency. We CAN'T act contrary to natural law, so we are constrained by nature.



Free will, therefor, exists in context of the most basic of natural laws: causality. Free will constrained by causality? To those who believe… Continue

Free Will and the Bible

Some assert that man has free will. Some assert that all is determined. Some say (as I do) that free will is compatible with determinism. The debate has raged, unabated, for millennia.

Clearly, an interceding God presents problems for free will. However, a cosmic God - a Creator who does not intervene in human affairs - might be compatible with free will if he keeps his omniscience and omnipotence to himself. I,…

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An ambitious blog title, I know . . . but you be the judge.

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From his high-rise Miami condo, an aspiring photographer sees dark clouds gathering in the distance. He remembers that a thunderstorm had been forecast for the evening. He sets up his camera and tripod on the balcony, checks the battery in his remote control, and waits for lightning.



A young couple have 10% of their paychecks automatically deposited into a savings account… Continue

I'm cross-posting this piece in the Rational Integrity group forum as well.



In atheist forum discussions about free will, determinists overwhelmingly outnumber compatibilists (those who say free will is compatible with determinism).



As I'll explain below, what always strikes me as curious is how dogma, denial and simplistic faith seem to be shared by both religious… Continue

Introduction:

Humans are essentially conscious minds, bound to material brains and bodies, exploring a material world. The mystery of consciousness has remained a mystery despite all the best efforts of philosophers, psychologists, psychiatrists, neurologists, neurophysicists and neurophysiologists. There are many theories of consciousness but no consensus.

Because we are self-aware and conscious of our choices, people usually assume we have freewill: that is, until they…

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Atheism, free will and scientific paradigms

To me, free will is not absolute or limitless. Free will is constrained by physical laws, ethics, and circumstances.

There is evidence that thoughts arise from diverse modules within the brain. These diverse sources of thought, within the brain, are integrated somehow (i.e. in the brain’s electromagnetic field) and passed back for a decision. It’s the decision – yes, no, maybe, I don’t know, not yet, if…

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