^Tagfree will

Vice grip tool squeezing a plank with the word free will

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Egnor
Date
February 7, 2021

Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Aristotle, Benjamin Libet, brain, Featured, free will, Hylemorphic dualism, Meat robots, Sam Harris, Thomas Aquinas}

A Reader Asks: Does Neuroscience Disprove Free Will?

_{Materialists sometimes misrepresent the evidence for free will, especially Benjamin Libet’s work} _{Michael Egnor

February 7, 2021

6

Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind}

Here’s the question: I have a question regarding free will. Sam Harris in his interview with Dan Dennett said that “If we decide to do go to somewhere we experience it later but our brain decided it much earlier than our experience to this decision. If we scan the brain at that time we will tell you before you came to know” Now it raise a question because we decide through intellect. You said that free will is due to intellect so intellect is challenged here. It’s an excellent question. The answer in brief is that we most certainly do have free will. We can see this from three perspectives: scientific, philosophical, and logical. The scientific evidence The scientific evidence Read More ›

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post

Author
Michael Egnor
Date
November 16, 2020

Categorized
Philosophy of Mind, Science

Tagged
Brain states, Determinism, Featured, free will, Freedom, Jerry Coyne, John Bell, Predictability, Quantum Mechanics, Quantum Physics}

A Materialist Gives Up on Determinism

_{Evolutionary biologist Jerry Coyne undercuts his own argument against free will by admitting that quantum phenomena are real} _{Michael Egnor

November 16, 2020

5

Philosophy of Mind, Science}

Evolutionary biologist Jerry Coyne has denied free will for years. But most recently, he has said something that puts the whole matter in doubt. A bit of background: Free will simply cannot be real if determinism is true, that is, if everything in nature falls like dominoes after the first one is pushed: If nature is truly like that, our acts, like those of the dominoes, are wholly determined by natural history and physical laws that we do not control. Nearly all arguments against free will depend critically on determinism. But there is a central problem with determinism: It is clear from physics that determinism in nature is not true. In 1964, theoretical physicist John Bell (1928–1990) proposed relatively simple Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Egnor
Date
October 29, 2020

Categorized
Medicine and Health, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
epilepsy, Featured, free will, Michael Egnor, Mystery of the Mind (book), seizures, Wilder Penfield}

Why, as a Neurosurgeon, I Believe in Free Will

_{The spiritual aspect of the human soul, sadly, leaves its signature in epilepsy} _{Michael Egnor

October 29, 2020

6

Medicine and Health, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind}

In his classic book, Mystery of the Mind, (1975) epilepsy surgery pioneer Dr. Wilder Penfield, asked a significant question: “Why are there no intellectual seizures?” Epileptic seizures can be experienced in a variety of ways—convulsions of the whole body, slight twitching of a muscle, compulsive memories, emotions, perceptions of smells or flashes of light, complex motor behaviors such as chewing or laughing or even walking, or subtle moments of inattention. But seizures never have intellectual content. There are no intellectual seizures, which is odd, given that large regions of the brain are presumed by neuroscientists to serve intellectual thought. It is all the more remarkable when we consider that seizures commonly originate in these “intellectual” areas of the brain. Yet Read More ›

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post

Author
Michael Egnor
Date
October 26, 2020

Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
appetites, Benjamin Libet, Featured, free will, functional MRI (fMRI), Patrick Haggard, Rational appetite, Sensitive appetite, Wilder Penfield}

Neuroscience Refutes Free Will? Addressing an Objection

_{Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is not as good as Libet’s methods for assessing real-time effects} _{Michael Egnor

October 26, 2020

7

Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind}

In reply to a post in which I pointed out that neuroscience strongly supports the reality of free will, commenter AaronS1978 makes a point at Uncommon Descent: First Michael Egnor is wrong about there being no brain wave activity with free won’t Patrick Haggard in 2014 discovered accidotal brain waves to free won’t I feel he kind of makes declarations, I understand his position philosophically and I do agree with a lot of it, but saying there is no activity before free won’t and saying it’s immaterial is incorrect Furthermore why wouldn’t there be brain activity when exercising your will? Wouldn’t that just mean that your soul was using your brain? Isn’t consciousness and conscious experience (hard problem of the Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
October 20, 2020

Categorized
Information Theory, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind, Science

Tagged
Alien hand syndrome, Benjamin Libet, Contact (film), free will, George Ellis, Information, Justice, Materialism, Michael Egnor, Minority Report (film), Physics, Precrime, reason, Sabine Hossenfelder, Sean Carroll, Surprisal, Tim Andersen}

Do We Really Have Free Will? Four Things to Know

_{Free will makes more sense of our world than determinism and science certainly allows for it} _{News

October 20, 2020

7

Information Theory, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind, Science}

Free will is a contentious topic in science these days. Theoretical physicists weigh in sharply on one side or the other. Just this month, based on quantum mechanics, mathematician Tim Andersen says maybe and theoretical physicist Sabine Hossenfelder says no. Based on cosmology, the study of our universe, physicist George Ellis said yes last June. With free will, as with consciousness, we don’t fully understand what’s involved. All insights from science are partial so we can’t look to science for a definitive answer. But maybe science can offer some hints. Here are four that might be helpful: 1.Has psychology shown that free will does not really exist? Psychological research on free will has supported the concept of free will but Read More ›

Hands of a man tearing a piece of paper with inscription free will

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Egnor
Date
October 17, 2020

Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Appetite, Benjamin Libet, epilepsy, Featured, free will, Free won't, Jerry Coyne, Mystery of the Mind (book), Rational appetite, reason, Sabine Hossenfelder, Sensitive appetite, Thomas Aquinas, Wilder Penfield}

Neuroscience Can Help Us Understand Why Free Will Is Real

_{Physicist Sabine Hossenfelder and biologist Jerry Coyne, who deny free will, don’t seem to understand the neuroscience} _{Michael Egnor

October 17, 2020

9

Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind}

Evolutionary biologist Jerry Coyne seems obsessed with denying free will. In a recent post on his blog, Why Evolution Is True, he supported the claim of theoretical physicist Sabine Hossenfelder that we do not have free will: If you’ve read this site, you’ll know that my own views are pretty much the same as hers, at least about free will. We don’t have it, and the fundamental indeterminacy of quantum mechanics doesn’t give it to us either. Hossenfelder doesn’t pull any punches: “This means in a nutshell that the whole story of the universe in every single detail was determined already at the big bang. We are just watching it play out.”… QED! Jerry Coyne, “Sabine Hossenfelder says we don’t Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
September 20, 2020

Categorized
Ethics

Tagged
Audun Dahlis, children, free will, Moral choice, Naturalism, reason}

Psychologist: Children Use Reason, not Gut, for Moral Problems

_{Audun Dahlis thinks that the case against moral reasoning has begun to unravel} _{News

September 20, 2020

4

Ethics}

A psychology prof (pictured) at University of California, Santa Cruz offers us a surprising message about children: They do not rely merely on feelings, but rather reason, when making moral choices: For decades, research on children – unlike research on adults – has overwhelmingly concluded that participants do reason about moral issues. (Strangely, psychological research often portrays children more favourably than it does adults.) In one classic study from the 1980s, researchers interviewed six- to 10-year-old children in the United States. They asked about several fictional moral violations: for instance, a child who pushed another child off the top of a slide. When asked why pushing was wrong, children typically explained that it could hurt the victim. Accordingly, most children Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
September 3, 2020

Categorized
Philosophy of Mind, Religion

Tagged
Bernardo Kastrup, cosmopsychism, Featured, free will, George Berkeley (1685–1753), god, Idealism, Materialism, Michael Egnor, Naturalism, Objective idealism}

Does Physics Today Point to Mind Rather Than Matter Only?

_{A cosmopsychist looks at the universe, God, and free will} _{News

September 3, 2020

12

Philosophy of Mind, Religion}

In a recent podcast, “Does the Moon Exist if No One is Looking at It?”, Michael Egnor continued his discussion with philosopher and computer programmer Bernardo Kastrup. As a scientist, Kastrup has worked for The European Organization for Nuclear Research and for Phillips Research Laboratories, and has authored many academic papers and books. This week’s topic is the way physics today points to mind as opposed to materialism. Kastrup offers some thoughts on God and free will as well, from his cosmopsychist (or objective idealist) position: https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-095-Bernardo-Kastrup.mp3 From the transcript: (Other discussions in the series, Show Notes, Resources, and a link to the complete transcript follow.) Michael Egnor: You have said and written that physics points to the mind. What Read More ›

Black silhouettes of people looking through telescope on big red moon in dark twilight on shore.

^{Type
podcast

Author
Michael Egnor
Date
August 13, 2020

Tagged
Arthur Schopenhauer, Bernardo Kastrup, Five Ways, free will, immateriality, Many Worlds interpretation, Materialism, Michael Egnor, Moral Responsibility, Philosophy of Mind, Physics, Quantum Entanglement, Quantum Mechanics, Quantum Physics, subjective idealism, Thomas Aquinas}

Does the Moon Exist if No One is Looking at It?

_{Michael Egnor

August 13, 2020

1}

Is our physical reality purely subjective or is it objective? Why has materialim been around for so long? Do we have free will? Dr. Michael Egnor and Dr. Bernardo Kastrup discuss physics, idealism, materialism, and free will. Show Notes 00:28 | Introducing Dr. Bernardo Kastrup 01:22 | How quantum mechanics points to the mind 02:40 | Does the moon exist Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
July 6, 2020

Categorized
Global Technology, Philosophy of Mind, Technocracy

Tagged
Featured, free will, Lucas Skrobot, Michael Egnor, totalitarianism}

Michael Egnor: Denying Free Will Is Totalitarian

_{News

July 6, 2020

2

Global Technology, Philosophy of Mind, Technocracy}

Specifically, “The denial of free will is the cornerstone of totalitarian systems.” That’s what he told podcaster Lucas Skrobot in the second of two podcast discussions: Dr. Michael Egnor | Free Will and Totalitarian Ideologies (Part 2 of 2) [E152] Neurosurgeon Michael Egnor has written a fair bit on free will for Mind Matters News. Here are some selections to consider: No free will means no justice: “Free will is the cornerstone of all human rights and the cornerstone of our Constitutional rights. The denial of free will is, literally, the denial of human freedom. Without free will, we are livestock, without the presumption of innocence, without actual innocence, and without rights. A justice system that has no respect for Read More ›

direction arrows on asphalt ground, feet and shoes on floor

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
June 23, 2020

Categorized
Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
free will, George Ellis}

A Theoretical Physicist Defends Free Will

_{Physics, he says, has made huge strides, but has not upset free will} _{News

June 23, 2020

2

Philosophy of Mind}

George Ellis, considered a world leader in relativity and cosmology (right, courtesy David Monniaux), offers some thoughts: Physics has made huge strides since the days of Laplace; indeed, it would be completely unrecognisable to him. Yet there are still physicists today who confidently proclaim that we can’t have free will because physics determines everything, including brain functioning – entirely ignoring the complex context and the power of constraints. If you seriously believe that fundamental forces leave no space for free will, then it’s impossible for us to genuinely make choices as moral beings. We wouldn’t be accountable in any meaningful way for our reactions to global climate change, child trafficking or viral pandemics. The underlying physics would in reality be Read More ›

Free-range red angus cattle on pasture, Argentina.

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Egnor
Date
May 31, 2020

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Ethics, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Agatha Christie, criminal justice, Determinism, Featured, free will, Jerry Coyne, Murder at the Vicarage (novel)}

No Free Will Means No Justice

_{Materialist biologist Jerry Coyne doesn’t seem to understand what denying free will would mean for the criminal justice system} _{Michael Egnor

May 31, 2020

7

Arts & Culture, Ethics, Philosophy of Mind}

Without free will, no one is innocent. Who asks cattle on the way to the abattoir if they are guilty or innocent?

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Egnor
Date
May 13, 2020

Categorized
Mathematics, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Featured, free will, Jerry Coyne, Logic, Physics, Sean Carroll}

Physicist Rejects Free Will — and Thus Fails Logic

_{If we accepted his argument for materialism, we would have to stop believing in it—a curious, self-refuting result} _{Michael Egnor

May 13, 2020

7

Mathematics, Philosophy of Mind}

Carroll’s argument that man is wholly governed by physics is self-refuting. Because physics and logic share no commonality, materialists like Carroll implicitly assert that their own arguments lack logic. One might say that the only thing materialists get right is that their ideas are nonsense. If man is all physics, he can have no logic.

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Egnor
Date
April 27, 2020

Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Benjamin Libet, Determinism, free will, Indeterminism, Innocence, Jerry Coyne, Judicial system}

Jerry Coyne Just Can’t Give Up Denying Free Will

_{Coyne’s denial of free will, based on determinism, is science denial and junk metaphysics} _{Michael Egnor

April 27, 2020

6

Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind}

Some day, I predict, there will be a considerable psychiatric literature on the denial of free will. It’s essentially a delusion dressed up as science. To insist that your neurotransmitters completely control your choices is no different than insisting that your television or your iphone control your thoughts. It’s crazy.

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
March 23, 2020

Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Benjamin Libet, free will, Free won't, Michael Egnor, Robert J. Marks}

How Libet’s Free Will Research Is Misrepresented

_{Sometimes, says Michael Egnor, misrepresentation may be deliberate because Libet’s work doesn’t support a materialist perspective} _{News

March 23, 2020

6

Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind}

“Neuroscientist Benjamin Libet’s experiments are described very often both in the scientific literature and in the popular press as supportive of materialism—which is something that they don’t support and something that Libet made very clear was not his conclusion.” – Michael Egnor

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
March 19, 2020

Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Benjamin Libet, free will, Michael Egnor, Robert J. Marks}

How a Neuroscientist Imaged Free Will (and “Free Won’t”)

_{At first, Libet thought that free will might not be real. Then he looked again…} _{News

March 19, 2020

6

Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind}

Neuroscientist Benjamin Libet (1916–2007), who studied measured brain activity as people make decisions, came across the power of “free won’t”: an apparently free decision not to do something we had decided on earlier.

^{Type
podcast

Author
Robert J. Marks and Michael Egnor
Date
March 5, 2020

Tagged
Benjamin Libet, Bereitschaftspotential, brain, brain activity, free will, Michael Egnor, Mind Time, MRI, neuroplasticity, Neuroscience, predestination, readiness potential}

Michael Egnor: Free Will or Free Won’t?

_{Robert J. Marks and Michael Egnor

March 5, 2020

1}

There have been ongoing philosophical and theological arguments about free will vs. predestination. How do experiments on the human brain inform us on this question? Robert J. Marks discusses free will, free won’t, predestination, and the brain with Dr. Michael Egnor. Show Notes 00:40 | Introducing Dr. Michael Egnor, Professor of Neurosurgery and Pediatrics at State University of New York, Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
February 29, 2020

Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Aristotle, brain, epilepsy, Featured, free will, intellect, Michael Egnor, mind, Neurosurgery, reason, Wilder Penfield, will}

Why Pioneer Neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield Said the Mind Is More Than the Brain

_{He gave three lines of reasoning, based on brain surgery on over a thousand patients} _{News

February 29, 2020

6

Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind}

Michael Egnor points out that Penfield offered three lines of evidence: His inability to stimulate intellectual thought during brain operations, the inability of seizures to cause intellectual thought, and his inability to stimulate the will. … So he concluded that the intellect and the will are not from the brain. Which is precisely what Aristotle said.

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Egnor
Date
January 29, 2020

Categorized
Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
free will, Jerry Coyne}

Meat has no opinions

_{Why you can't actually deny free will} _{Michael Egnor

January 29, 2020

4

Philosophy of Mind}

If we are just meat, as evolutionary biologist Jerry Coyne insists, we cannot have a true opinion of the matter. Meat is neither right nor wrong. To have an opinion about free will implies that we accept it.

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
November 21, 2019

Categorized
Medicine and Health, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
epilepsy, free will, Michael Egnor, Roger Sperry, split-brain surgery, Wilder Penfield}

Some People Think and Speak with Only Half a Brain

_{A new study sheds light on how they do it} _{News

November 21, 2019

5

Medicine and Health, Philosophy of Mind}

A range of neuroscience research findings is more readily explained by assuming that some aspects of thought–– abstract intellectual thought and free will–– are immaterial.