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Free will is the putative ability of agents to make choices free from certain kinds of constraints. Historically, the constraint of dominant concern has been the metaphysical constraint of determinism. The opposing positions within that debate are metaphysical libertarianism, the claim that determinism is false and thus that free will exists (or is at least possible); and hard determinism, the claim that determinism is true and thus that free will does not exist.
Both of these positions, which agree that causal determination is the relevant factor in the question of free will, are classed as incompatibilists. Those who deny that determinism is relevant are classified as compatibilists, and offer various alternative explanations of what constraints are relevant, such as physical constraints (e.g. chains or imprisonment), social constraints (e.g. threat of punishment or censure), or psychological constraints (e.g. compulsions or phobias).
The principle of free will has religious, ethical, and scientific implications. For example, in the religious realm, free will implies that individual will and choices can coexist with an omnipotent divinity. In ethics, it may hold implications regarding whether individuals can be held morally accountable for their actions. The question of free will has been a central issue since the beginning of philosophical thought.
I have a 3 drink minimum before I start really discussing free will.
Rep. Gifford’s husband is scheduled to be the commander of a shuttle flight next month.
I’m searching for free willy right now on craigslist.
Is that the Shuttle with the Senator’s husband on it?
“Everyone has free will, it’s a part of being a human being.”
Incorrect. Everything you do is a product of your physical composition and the circumstances that surroud you. You only think you are acting with free will. Every act that you think is volitional is pre-determined. Even your thinking it is free will is pre-determined.
You will never, ever be able to prove this wrong.
Watching the Space Shuttle land now.
Everyone has free will, it’s a part of being a human being. We all exercise it every day, from the smallest decisions whether to brush our teeth in the morning, to deciding whether or not it’s worth beating the crap out of someone in the subway because they bumped into you.
For some people in repressive societies or totalitarian regimes, the larger decisions of free will may seem to be supressed, but they are still there. That’s why some people make choices to do or be something that seems insane to the rest of us – why choose to believe in a society that bans belief? Why be gay in a culture that sentences gays to death? Why join a rebellion that is doomed to fail? Why do good when it is so much easier and lucrative to do evil? Free will.
“anyone know anything about the rentals in the old jewish hospital up on Prospect and Classon?”
reserved for bxgrl & CGar.