Free will - Philosophical Concept | Alexandria
Free will, that elusive concept, is often defined as the capacity to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded, suggesting our choices are self-determined and not dictated by external forces or prior causes, yet this definition hardly scratches the surface of its enigma. Sometimes referred to as agency or self-determination, it's often confused with simple freedom of action, subtly inviting a deeper exploration of what truly governs our decisions.
The threads of this profoundly human question are woven deep into the tapestry of history. Early references can be traced back to ancient Greek philosophy, with Aristotle wrestling with notions of moral responsibility and voluntary action in Nicomachean Ethics around 350 BCE. Simultaneously, Eastern philosophical traditions, particularly within Hinduism and Buddhism, were exploring similar themes of karma and self-control. These nascent considerations flourished amidst empires rising and falling, wars reshaping boundaries, and philosophical schools clashing over fundamental truths, establishing free will as one of the "great ideas" of humanity's great conversation.
Over the centuries, interpretations have evolved through the influential minds of Augustine, who grappled with free will in the context of divine omnipotence during the 4th century CE, to the existentialist pronouncements of Jean-Paul Sartre in the 20th century, who declared that we are “condemned to be free.” Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason attempted to reconcile free will with the apparent determinism of the natural world by positing the transcendental self. This concept has generated countless thought experiments. Consider the trolley problem, a moral dilemma explored by philosophers like Judith Jarvis Thomson, an intuition pump designed to unveil our underlying moral reasoning. Debates rage on concerning determinism, compatibilism, and hard determinism, with tools such as game theory used to model choices and their consequences. Such concepts, for instance utilitarianism as championed by Peter Singer, have had wide ranging impact on our concept of ethical decision making.
The legacy of free will extends beyond philosophical treatises, influencing legal systems, ethical frameworks, and our understanding of personal moral responsibility. Today, the concept is being re-examined through the lens of cognitive science of morality, experimental philosophy and ethics in AI, with questions arising about the implications of neuroscience and artificial intelligence on our sense of agency. Does our increasing understanding of the brain diminish the possibility of free will, or does it offer new perspectives on how our choices are made? The enduring mystique of free will lies in its ability to provoke introspection regarding the nature of consciousness, the limits of causality, and the very essence of what it means to be human, forever enticing us to question the architects of our destinies.