A Sense of Free Will: the consciousness quagmire (Introduction)

by dhw, Monday, September 21, 2015, 20:05 (3138 days ago) @ BBella

DAVID: I'm very simple. I equate free will with freedom of intentionality as my mind works. And I must be conscious to do that choosing. I can't make choices when unconscious or sleeping. Dreams then become an interesting factor in the discussion.

BBELLA: You may not be able to or have had the opportunity to, but many that have had NDE's and lucid dreamers have made conscious choices. I have talked with a few that have experienced NDE's that made conscious choices, and I am a lucid dreamer (not always) that many times make conscious choices while dreaming.-Thank you for this. It adds yet another layer to the many levels of consciousness that we experience, not to mention the levels of control. NDEs and dualism offer a different dimension to our discussion on free will, but I don't think they change the basic premises Romansh and I have been discussing: even a separate mind will still be subject to cause and effect (= no free will), but it will still be our own unique mind, regardless of all influences (= free will).-I'm pleased to have support from both of you as regards conscious choices being integral to a definition, but I don't actually know why Romansh objects to it, since it does not make the slightest difference to the two premises above. My point is that unless we are aware of a choice, we will not use the faculty we call free will (whether it is free or not.) Perhaps one of you (or someone else) can explain the problem to me.