Free Will (The nature of a \'Creator\')

by romansh , Friday, September 03, 2010, 21:19 (5194 days ago) @ dhw

dhw This definition excludes even the possibility that our actions and choices may be determined by factors within ourselves that are beyond our conscious control.-I would disagree with this interpretation. I think this definition leads us (well it did me) to doubt the very existence of the self.-> David Your inference is correct. We are influenced by our learned background of events throughout our lives, but with that background in place, my choices of action or thought are my choices. We can nit pick back to my genetics for influences, but ultimately, I choose my actions or thoughts. We develop our personalites which become our choice makers.-Again in what way are your choices "free" and more importantly how is your "will" to make those choices free?-This is a nice transcript of an interview with Galen Strawson, which takes a less deterministic point of view to throw doubt on free will.-Here's the relevant passage:
I suppose it's possible that you might have acquired the first want, that's the want for a want, because you wanted to! It's theoretically possible that you had a want to have a want to have a want. But this is very hard to imagine, and the question just rearises: where did that want come from? You certainly can't go on like this forever. At some point your wants must be just given.-from
http://www.naturalism.org/strawson_interview.htm