Is Free Will an Illusion? What Can Cognitive Science Tell Us?
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Channel: Santa Fe Institute
Views: 260,695
Rating: 4.6529284 out of 5
Keywords: Santa Fe Institute, sfi, Daniel Dennett, philosophy, philosopher, free will, consciousness, responsibility, morality, determinism, philosophy of mind, science of mind, mind, complexity, complex systems, systems, system theory, science, cognition, destiny, ethics, fate, accountability, lesson, lecture, learning, education, cognitive science, neuroscience
Id: wGPIzSe5cAU
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Length: 81min 20sec (4880 seconds)
Published: Sat May 17 2014
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Assume that free will is an illusion. If that is the case then the actions a person takes are completely determined by genetics and life experiences. Assuming that we can't/won't modify genetics, altering life experience is the only way to alter behavior.
Assume that it is moral to punish people for immoral actions if free will exists because it modifies behavior.
Assuming that we want people to act in moral ways, and assuming that punishment affects decisions, then even without free will it is moral to punish immoral actions, since doing so affects actions as much as if a free will were present.
I feel like many people are commenting before watching the video. Please watch it.
Jesus, all these comments and not one has mentioned compatibilism. Free will and determinism are not mutually exclusive. It boils down to this; what do we mean by "free?" Is my will free from yours? To a degree. You may have an influence but you wouldn't have control over all aspects that make my will mine. Is my will free from the bounds of the universe, no that's nonsense. Its quite simple once we understand what we are free from. edit:spelling
Dennett's principle contributions are the intentional stance and a revival of evolutionary psychology, explicable in terms of the intentional stance. It's an attempt, and so-far a fairly successful attempt, to counter the cognitive critiques of Ryle/Watson/Skinner behaviorism. Consciousness, free-will, are as-if phenomena. Persistent illusions, that are not mysterious.
It's a project, and not a proof, but Dennett's winning the long war.
Why is this 1 hour plus video getting upvotes within 17 minutes of it being posted?
I always felt that freewill was mostly an illusion, or nearly always so, but that generally it didn't matter since no matter how limited or free will is it only makes sense to operate as if it's real. The alternative would be inhumane and unworkable.
If free will is an illusion then we are not punishing a person for their choices but for the flawed mechanism behind those choices.
Does it make a moral difference whether or not we have absolute free will or practical free will? Daniel Dennet must know that the answer to such a question depends on whether or not we, society, determine that it does or does not make a moral difference. Society has determined that it does not make a moral difference; we will still hold people accountable for their actions even if they did not have the "free will" to choose otherwise because if we don't, societal cooperation is impossible.
"Free Will" is not a testable phenomenon. I would very much like to see a scientific source that cites "scientists say" and "free will" in the same sentence.