Michael Mitchell: Archive

So in order to prove my will is free I have to disprove cause and effect? Which concept -- volition or causality -- am I misunderstanding?

You know, the irony here is that he (allegedly) 😆 thinks that free will isn't free, that our wills are "determined" whether we like it or not, whether we believe it or not, but the opposite is actually true. Human will is free whether we like it or not. 😂 It's the nature of our consciousness. In other words, it really was "determined" for us. We can't escape from it. We can't turn it off. We have the ability to foresee and control the consequences of our actions and we can't choose not to have the ability to foresee and control the consequences of our actions.

And that's not a contradiction of reality, it's a contradiction of his Platonic conception of free will. Does anyone actually believe that free will isn't truly free if it's limited by the laws of nature? Although we usually only deceive ourselves with it, that's the trick. He's arguing against the existence of horses by proving unicorns don't exist. Free will, in reality, doesn't fit that ideal in his mind, so he CHOOSES to deny it. There are at least two options there, to deny or accept the existence of free will, and he's choosing one over the other. That's what free will is. It's not the ability to make that choice without the affect of or the influence from preceding events, causally-connected or not. It's simply the ability to make that choice -- and to know it.

Whether I'm aware of it or not, if my great-great-great-great-great-grandfather was a slaveowner and I'm a passive racist, he would say I'm a passive racist because my great-great-great-great-great-grandfather was a slaveowner, but if my great-great-great-great-great-grandfather was a slaveowner and I'm an individual rights activist, he would also say I'm an individual rights activist because my great-great-great-great-great-grandfather was a slaveowner. It's irrelevant in this context whether or not it's good or bad, right or wrong, or better or worse to be a passive racist or an individual rights activist or even a slaveowner. The same cause can't lead to opposite effects. That's FREEDOM! 😂