How would you define free will? Also, do we have it?

Sorry, I cannot really be more specific than "Freedom to choose how we want to pursue happiness" ;-))

It is a gradual thing, If arrows for my bow cost 500 dollars each then I have less "free will to practice archery" than I would have if they cost a dollar for a bundle of 12.

There are lots of things that decrease my free will. I was raised to see "rape" as despicable and criminal, Had I not been raised that way I would most likely have done it a couple of times. Undsoveiter...

But I can define the antithesis of free will. Predestination. The idea that if I properly shoot billiard ball A at billiard ball B, then it will cause Billiard ball B to move over and hit billiard ball C, etc... until finally and inevitably billiard ball Z is struck and roll into its pocket. That idea became popular with the the technological revolution and was further strengthened by computers and algorithms (a 'math' space where outcomes a fully predictable). The universe (and I) are analog, not digital that make our outcomes a lot less predestined

What happens if you drop a billiard ball precisely over the edge of a sword? Will it: 1) fall to the left, 2)fall to the right, 3) roll sideways along the edge, 4 just lie there ? Nobody can answer that question with 100% certainty. All 4 outcomes are possible with varying probabilities. there are even several extra and very unlikely outcomes. eg: "bounce 2 meters up in the air and disintegrate". By the rules of physic & relativity that can happen and will happen (but only 3-6 times in the estimated lifetime of our universe (and even then only if we colonize (and play Billiard on) a great many planets ;-) ))

Free will means being able to perform an action without an affect from the past. Since we did not choose to be born, we have no free will. Since our brain is made up of a bunch of chemicals and we do not have a say on the mixture of those chemicals, we have no free will.

Do I have it ?

I dont really know. I think I have it; but thinking that is so very necessary for my self-image as a "Free actor" that I have to seriously acknowledge the possibility that it is just wishful thinking rather than any kind of knowledge-based decision.

What I do know is that my culture is built on it (eg: how can criminals be held morally accountable if their crime was predestined before they were even born?)

One of the hardest questions I've encountered here, which gives me intense pleasure to struggle with in the attempt at an answer.

The definition of the word "free" is "able to act or be done as one wishes; not under the control of another," or alternatively, "not or no longer confined or imprisoned."

The definition of the word makes it impossible to separate from the concepts of "freedom to choose" or "having a will that is free."

What freedom we do have only exists between relatively narrow limits which vary throughout life and with our circumstances.

I'm an atheist, rationalist and several other -ists in that direction.

It is easier to speak of relative abilities and the capacity for self-restraint than freedom.

I think the concept of free will is flawed, and that the subjective feeling of being free is an illusion. The concept is as much an abstract invention as the idea of zero or nothing.

We are conditioned beings. Our existence depends on favourable conditions. We are not always able to create them or to adapt. We are also psychologically conditioned, often in ways that remain unconscious throughout life.

For every action there is a reaction: for every cause, an effect. We are the cause of the ripple effect of our every word, action, choice, and omission.

If we have empathy and are moral beings, then we accept that everything we do has effects beyond that which affects ourselves.To the extent that we cause something, we are responsible for it, whether we do it consciously and intentionally or not. f we wish for the well-being of others, (not just humans but all life and the health of the planet's ecosystems,) then how we live is prescribed between the limits of that which does not cause harm. We are not truly free to choose in circumstances in which we don't or cannot know the possible results of our choices, and yet we are still responsible for the consequences.

The foregoing is just my own ramblings on the topic. Then I decided to look up what the real thinkers have to say. The following is a paragraph I found and liked. It comes from "The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy."

"One suggested solution to this puzzle begins by reconsidering the relationship of two strands in (much) thinking about freedom of will: being able to do otherwise and being the ultimate source of one's will. Contemporary discussions of free will often emphasize the importance of being able to do otherwise. Yet it is plausible (Kane 1996) that the core metaphysical feature of freedom is being the ultimate source, or originator, of one's choices, and that being able to do otherwise is closely connected to this feature. For human beings or any created persons who owe their existence to factors outside themselves, the only way their acts of will could find their ultimate origin in themselves is for such acts not to be determined by their character and circumstances. For if all my willings were wholly determined, then if we were to trace my causal history back far enough, we would ultimately arrive at external factors that gave rise to me, with my particular genetic dispositions. My motives at the time would not be the ultimate source of my willings, only the most proximate ones. Only by there being less than deterministic connections between external influences and choices, then, [can] it be possible for me to be an ultimate source of my activity, concerning which I may truly say, “the buck stops here.” "

It could be argued that the idea of freedom is the preserve of the immature mind, or even the psychopath - those who believe they have the right to do as they wish irrespective of the consequences to others or themselves.

There is a different strand of thinking which derives both from Western and Buddhist (Abhidharma) psychologies. In this view, we become free of our past mental and emotional conditioning when we succeed in bringing our awareness precisely and fully into the present moment. In this state we can choose our actions in response to the reality of the present moment as revealed to us through our sense perceptions. It is agreed in Buddhist teachings that one who has meditated long enough to have achieved this state naturally becomes compassionate in the process and spontaneously desires the well-being of all life. Thus the liberated or enlightened person is free to do as they wish because he or she never wishes to cause harm. To the extent that each of us chooses not to harm life, we need fewer laws and restrictions imposed by authorities. And yet, because it is (unenlightened) human nature to transgress, there will always be a need for limits to protect us from ourselves. I think we also need limits to prevent us polluting the earth, air, and water, sending species of plants and animals to extinction, and damaging the ecosystems upon which all earthly life depends.

I would define free will as the ability of an organisim to act independent of the stimuli and conditioning which prompt it to react in particular ways.

My reading of the scientific evidence and philosophical discussion on the subject suggests free will is, at most, a very limited concept for a variety of reasons including:

A) Consciousness is easily altered and concious beings are often unware of how they have been altered

B) Principles of quantum mechanics and ordinary randomness mean many of the outcomes of even nominally free choices are uncertain

C) Many of the concepts we believe are abstract and independent of phyiscal reality are, in fact, physically instantiated in the brain. People with certain kinds of brain damage cannot conceive of some of the abstractions upon which the concept of free will depends.

D) Etc., etc., etc.

I made a decision to throw out expired food last week. I could have eaten those with no ill effect but I cannot be sure it won't harm me now or in the future.

That's an example of choice I made.

Free will is having the options, knowing what they are and having the ability to change outcome based on action/decision.

God did not give us free will. God gave us limited options with limited course of outcomes. God gave us fate / chance. It is written, in other words.

I loved how you  exercised your free will by posting it  in the animals category, duck division, lol

:)

Of course we have it.

I think it's simple, not complicated. Free will IS the ability to choose and make choices/decisions every day no matter what it is. Free will is choosing (assuming we are able to and not bed ridden) to get out of bed every morning versus laying there and sleeping.

Free will is the apparent ability to make conscious choices that direct the course of our lives. I say "apparent", because even though we seem to be able to make choices in the moment, consciously, unconscious activity in the brain seems to play a role in our decision making. Experiments have shown that activity occurs in the brain the determines the choice, before we are consciously aware of it. 

Oh man.  Do you need this answer NOW?  I have to go to the bank.  I'll get back to you.

Yes we have free-will but we do not have free will.  Now I have to defend this.   See you soon, I really have to get things done.  Why do you have such terrific timing?

Shat

Yes that would be the "Highest degree" free will. The kind of free will God is supposed to have, able to create whatever reality he wants at any time for any reason or none. As a human being I would be utterly incapable of handling that sort of free will and frankly I dont think anybody else could either. It would be the absolute power that corrupts absolutely ;-))

2) If predestination is real. then every part of the timeline from the big bang to the heat death of the universe is knowable at any point from one end of the timeline to the other. Nothing can happen any other way that it did/does/will.

Essentially free will cannot coexist with predestination because if it does then whatever 'choices' are made have no effect on reality. Nobody will get a happier life if I build an orphanage. If I buy a car the choice to do so is not my choice, from the beginning of time I was predestined to make just that choice at that time. Every action and ambition is futile. The future is as it is and always will be. before during and after. That does not go well with the notion of free will.

Your 1) and elsewhere sound a bit as if you have caught religion. Have you? or are you playing devils advocate?

being free to do what we want

Listen to this and all will be revealed.

inward chuckle :)

I agree.

How much freedom do you feel you have in your current life?

Sorry, can't hear the lyrics. Something wrong with my hearing with pop music, or the way the instrumentation dominates.

Here are the lyrics: Better than I expected ;-)

"Freewill"

There are those who think that life has nothing left to chance
A host of holy horrors to direct our aimless dance

A planet of play things
We dance on the strings
Of powers we cannot perceive
'The stars aren't aligned
Or the gods are malign...'
Blame is better to give than receive

[Chorus:]
You can choose a ready guide in some celestial voice
If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice
You can choose from phantom fears and kindness that can kill
I will choose a path that's clear
I will choose freewill

There are those who think
That they were dealt a losing hand
The cards were stacked against them
They weren't born in Lotusland

All preordained
A prisoner in chains
A victim of venomous fate
Kicked in the face
You can't pray for a place
In heaven's unearthly estate

[Chorus]

Each of us
A cell of awareness
Imperfect and incomplete
Genetic blends
With uncertain ends
On a fortune hunt that's far too fleet

One thing this poem makes clear is that whether we have free will or not,

it's psychologically and socially healthier to believe we do and live by the belief.

Thank you! :)