Free will is an illusion

For (37)

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  Robert Sapolsky

  Neuroscientist, author, and professor

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  votes For and says:

  You cannot decide all the sensory stimuli in your environment, your hormone levels this morning, whether something traumatic happened to you in the past, the socioeconomic status of your parents, your fetal environment, your genes, whether your ances... more Unverified source

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  Joe M. Pierre, M.D.

  Psychiatrist; UCSF clinical professor

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  votes For and says:

  Hard determinism need not be the nihilistic philosophy it’s cracked up to be. If we were to give up the idea of duality and the belief in free will, it might help us to gain something in the process. For example, if the “you” that says that you consc... more Unverified source (2014)

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  Bruce Hood

  Psychologist; The Self Illusion author

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  votes For and says:

  If the self is an illusion, what is your position on free will? Free will is certainly a major component of the self-illusion, but it is not synonymous. Both are illusions, but the self-illusion extends beyond the issues of choice and culpability to... more Unverified source (2012)

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  Deepak Chopra

  Author and physician

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  votes For and says:

  If consciousness is fundamental reality, then there’s no conflict. Free will and determinism are complementarities, just like wave and particle are complementarities. So at the most fundamental level there’s the potential for both. Now the conditione... more Unverified source

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  Shaun Nichols

  Philosopher; experimental philosophy

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  votes For and says:

  If our instinct cannot support the idea of free will, then we lose our main rationale for resisting the claim that free will is an illusion. Unverified source (2011)

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  Gregg D. Caruso

  Philosopher; free will skeptic

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  votes For and says:

  I'm a free will skeptic [...] who we are and what we do is ultimately the result of factors beyond our control. Unverified source

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  Voltaire

  French Enlightenment writer-philosopher

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  votes For and says:

  Will, then, is not a faculty which can be called free. 'Free-will' is a word absolutely devoid of sense [...] a chimera unworthy to be combated. Unverified source (1764)

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  Mark Twain

  American novelist and humorist

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  votes For and says:

  That there is no such thing. Free Will has always existed in words, but it stops there, I think—stops short of fact. Unverified source (1906)

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  Swami Vivekananda

  Indian monk, Vedanta proponent

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  votes For and says:

  There cannot be any such thing as free will; the very words are a contradiction [...] that which obeys the law of causation cannot be free. Unverified source (1896)

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  Paul Bloom

  Psychologist and author

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  votes For and says:

  This is what many call free will, and most scientists and philosophers agree that it is an illusion. Our actions are in fact literally predestined, determined by the laws of physics, the state of the universe, long before we were born, and, perhaps, ... more Unverified source (2012)

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  Marvin Minsky

  AI pioneer, Turing Award laureate

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  votes For and says:

  Does this mean that we must embrace the modern scientific view and put aside the ancient myth of voluntary choice? No. We can't do that: too much of what we think and do revolves around those old beliefs. Consider how our social lives depend upon the... more Unverified source (1986)

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  John-Dylan Haynes

  Neuroscientist and decision prediction researcher

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  votes For and says:

  Maybe this early signal isn't a full decision, it's just like a nudge that you get, it's just biasing you one way, but its not really finally making up your mind. Decisions are caused by unconscious brain processes, then consciousness kicks in later... more Unverified source (2012)

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  William B. Provine

  Evolutionary biologist; Cornell historian of science

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  votes For and says:

  Choices are not made freely - there are all kinds of constraints on it. I hated the idea of human free will. Unverified source (2005)

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  Brian Greene

  Theoretical physicist; Columbia University professor

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  votes For and says:

  the notion of having free will is an illusion. It's a useful illusion. Unverified source (2023)

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  Thomas Henry Huxley

  English biologist and essayist

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  votes For and says:

  our mental conditions are simply the symbols in consciousness of the changes which take place automatically in the organism; [...]. We are conscious automata. Unverified source (1874)

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  Paul-Henri Thiry, Baron d'Holbach

  French Enlightenment philosopher and atheist

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  votes For and says:

  Man is necessitated in all his actions, that his free will is a chimera, [...]. 'But,' you will say, 'I feel free.' This is an illusion, [...] Unverified source (1772)

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  Patrick Haggard

  UCL cognitive neuroscientist

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  votes For and says:

  I think, in some strong sense, free will is an illusion. In neuroscience, we have a real problem with the idea that a conscious event, which is somehow independent of the brain, which is occurring only in the mind, but not in the brain, can somehow t... more Unverified source

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  Daniel M. Wegner

  Harvard psychologist; will illusion scholar

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  votes For and says:

  Do we consciously cause our actions, or do they happen to us? Philosophers, psychologists, neuroscientists, theologians, and lawyers have long debated the existence of free will versus determinism. With the publication of The Illusion of Conscious Wi... more Unverified source (2017)

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  Vaughan Bell

  Clinical psychologist; science writer

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  votes For and says:

  I am willing to suppose it is an illusion since so many people insist that they have free will, even if none of them can show what they mean or where this free will hides. But I’m insisting it is an illusion. It could just be a silly bit of nonsense. Unverified source (2011)

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  B. F. Skinner

  Behaviorist psychologist, Harvard professor

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  votes For and says:

  What is being abolished is autonomous man—the inner man, the homunculus, the possessing demon, the man defended by the literatures of freedom and dignity. Unverified source (1971)

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  Alex Rosenberg

  Philosopher of science, Duke University

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  votes For and says:

  As for determinism and the denial of real free will, that is a conclusion which, so to speak, goes without saying for scientism. Unverified source (2009)

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  Albert Einstein

  Physicist, Nobel laureate in physics

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  votes For and says:

  I am a determinist. As such, I do not believe in free will. Unverified source (1929)

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  Friedrich Nietzsche

  German philosopher and cultural critic

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  votes For and says:

  The Error of Free-Will. At present we no longer have any mercy upon the concept ‘free-will’: we know only too well what it is—the most egregious theological trick that has ever existed for the purpose of making mankind ‘responsible’ in a theological ... more Unverified source (1889)

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  Saul Smilansky

  Israeli philosopher; illusionism advocate

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  votes For and says:

  Imagine, that I’m deliberating whether to do my duty, such as to parachute into enemy territory, or something more mundane like to risk my job by reporting on some wrongdoing. If everyone accepts that there is no free will, then I’ll know that people... more Unverified source (2016)

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  Susan Blackmore

  Psychologist and consciousness researcher

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  votes For and says:

  I am talking about the kind of free will that suggests that ‘I’ can freely choose to do something that is independent of all other influences – memes, genes, environment and so on. In other words, ‘magical’ contra-causal free will. Someone like Danie... more Unverified source (2017)

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  Derk Pereboom

  Philosopher, free will skeptic

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  votes For and says:

  According to free will skepticism, we human beings lack the sort of free will that is at issue in the traditional debate. Unverified source

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  Yuval Noah Harari

  Israeli historian and professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

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  votes For and says:

  People certainly have a will and they make decisions all the time. But most of these decisions are not made freely. Unverified source

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  Michael S. Gazzaniga

  Neuroscientist; split-brain pioneer

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  votes For and says:

  Neuroscience reveals that the concept of free will is without meaning [...] It's time to get over the idea of free will and move on. Unverified source (2012)

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  Martin Luther

  Reformation leader and theologian

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  votes For and says:

  free choice is in reality a fiction, or a name without reality. [...] Actually, the will tries to escape from grace and rages against it. Unverified source (1520)

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  Galen Strawson

  Philosopher; free will pessimist

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  votes For and says:

  I would say there's a fundamental sense in which free will is impossible, [...] And is it an illusion? Well, in some sense, yes. Unverified source

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  Sabine Hossenfelder

  Theoretical physicist, science communicator.

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  votes For and says:

  Just because free will is an illusion does not mean you are not allowed to use it as a thinking aid. Unverified source (2020)

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  Baruch Spinoza

  Dutch philosopher of rationalism.

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  votes For and says:

  men believe themselves to be free, simply because they are conscious of their actions, and unconscious of the causes whereby those actions are determined; Unverified source (1677)

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  Anthony R. Cashmore

  Biologist, University of Pennsylvania professor.

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  votes For and says:

  a belief in free will is nothing other than a continuing belief in vitalism Unverified source (2010)

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  Jerry Coyne

  Evolutionary biologist; UChicago professor emeritus

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  votes For and says:

  But I do think free will is an illusion in a different way, at least if one thinks that we really have a “will” that is distinct from the deterministic (or quantum-mechanical) forces that operate in our brains. We think our actions originate spontane... more Unverified source (2012)

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  Stephen Hawking

  Theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author

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  votes For and says:

  Though we feel that we can choose what we do, our understanding of the molecular basis of biology shows that biological processes are governed by the laws of physics and chemistry and therefore are as determined as the orbits of the planets. Recent e... more Unverified source (2010)

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  Sam Harris

  American author, philosopher, and neuroscientist

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  votes For and says:

  Dan seems to think that free will is like color: People might have some erroneous beliefs about it, but the experience of freedom and its attendant moral responsibilities can be understood in a similarly straightforward way through science. I think t... more Unverified source (2012)

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  Neil deGrasse Tyson

  Astrophysicist, author, science communicator

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  votes For and says:

  Today no one is saying: did you have the free will to not have an epileptic seizure? Of course not. Do you have the free will to not be depressed? The person who's ready to jump off the bridge in that instant, do they have the free will to not jump o... more Unverified source

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Against (34)

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  Catholic Church

  World's largest Christian church

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  votes Against and says:

  1730 God created man a rational being, conferring on him the dignity of a person who can initiate and control his own actions. “God willed that man should be ‘left in the hand of his own counsel,’ so that he might of his own accord seek his Creator a... more Unverified source

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  Society of Catholic Scientists

  International Catholic scientists organization

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  votes Against and says:

  No. There was once a powerful argument against free will based on the supposed “determinism” of the laws of physics, but this determinism was overthrown by quantum mechanics in the 1920s. “Physical determinism” is the idea that the laws of physics ... more Unverified source

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  William Lane Craig

  Philosopher-theologian; Reasonable Faith founder

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  votes Against and says:

  So on this view, again, free will is an illusion – you never really do anything freely. And that flies in the face of our experience of ourselves as free agents. I can freely do certain things or freely choose to think about certain things. I am not ... more Unverified source

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  Alvin Plantinga

  Analytic philosopher

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  votes Against and says:

  Robert Lawrence Kuhn: Al, you believe that God knows the future, right? Alvin Plantinga: Right, I do. Robert Lawrence Kuhn: You also believe that human beings have free will. Alvin Plantinga: I believe that too, right. [...] Uh, well, first of all... more Unverified source

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  Richard Swinburne

  Philosopher of religion

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  votes Against and says:

  Two points I would make. First, I don't accept that the world is a determined, the physical world is a deterministic system. I think quantum theory has suggested otherwise. The more normal interpretation of quantum theory is just that on the very sma... more Unverified source

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  Julian Baggini

  Philosopher and author

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  votes Against and says:

  One prevalent idea is that freedom requires a supernatural ability to transcend the laws of nature, because otherwise we would appear to be mere puppets of cause and effect. This makes free will into something mysterious, which would set us apart fro... more Unverified source (2021)

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  Timothy O’Connor

  Philosopher of free will

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  votes Against and says:

  Right. Uh, I don't think that that conclusion needs to be drawn. I, uh, I think we can take seriously our self-conception and take seriously, what we increasingly are learning about from science about the details of how neurophysiological, um, proces... more Unverified source

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  John Horgan

  Science writer; Scientific American blogger

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  votes Against and says:

  I can live without God, but I need free will. Without free will life makes no sense, it lacks meaning. Unverified source (2019)

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  Christian List

  Philosopher, London School of Economics

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  votes Against and says:

  As I explain in my book, there are rational arguments in support of the view that free will exists. Unverified source (2019)

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  Walter J. Freeman III

  Neuroscientist; brain dynamics pioneer

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  votes Against and says:

  our intentional actions continually flow into the world, changing the world and the relations of our bodies to it. Unverified source

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  Augustine of Hippo

  Christian theologian, Bishop of Hippo

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  votes Against and says:

  Consequently, penalty and reward would be unjust if human beings did not have free will. [...] Hence God ought to have given free will to human beings. Unverified source (395)

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  Immanuel Kant

  Prussian philosopher, ethics pioneer

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  votes Against and says:

  So a free will and a will under moral laws are one and the same. Unverified source (1785)

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  Kennon M. Sheldon

  Psychologist, motivation and well-being researcher

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  votes Against and says:

  Let me return to the title of this post: “Free Will Isn’t Independent of Biology; It's Enabled by It.” I hope you now see what I mean. Yes, it’s always our brain doing the choosing. But we conscious agents are the erstwhile controllers of that brain,... more Unverified source (2022)

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  Steven Pinker

  Cognitive scientist and author

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  votes Against and says:

  STEVEN PINKER: I do believe that there is such a thing as free will but by that I do not mean that there is some process that defies the laws of physical cause and effect. As my colleague Joshua Greene once put it, it is not the case that every time ... more Unverified source

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  Patricia S. Churchland

  Neurophilosopher; UC San Diego emerita

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  votes Against and says:

  I suspect that the claim that free will is an illusion is often made in haste, in ignorance, [...] What is not illusory is self-control. Unverified source (2013)

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  Stuart Kauffman

  Theoretical biologist and complexity theorist

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  votes Against and says:

  NOT a necessary forced conclusion. Free will in our normal sense means that I could have, contrary to fact, decided and done something else. Unverified source (2011)

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  Michael Shermer

  Skeptic founder; science writer and columnist

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  votes Against and says:

  If we define free will as the power to do otherwise, the choice to veto one impulse over another is free won’t. Unverified source (2012)

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  Noam Chomsky

  Linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist

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  votes Against and says:

  Free will is simply an obvious aspect of human experience. [...] I don't believe that it's the case. Unverified source (1983)

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  Thomas Aquinas

  Catholic theologian and philosopher

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  votes Against and says:

  I answer that, Man has free-will: otherwise counsels, exhortations, commands, prohibitions, rewards, and punishments would be in vain. Unverified source (1265)

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  Jean-Paul Sartre

  French existentialist philosopher and writer

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  votes Against and says:

  man is condemned to be free. [...] from the moment that he is thrown into this world he is responsible for everything he does. Unverified source (1946)

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  Benjamin Libet

  Pioneer of consciousness neuroscience

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  votes Against and says:

  I have taken an experimental approach to this question. Freely voluntary acts are preceded by a specific electrical change in the brain that begins 550 ms before the act. Human subjects became aware of intention to act 350-400 ms after RP starts, but... more Unverified source (1999)

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  Kevin J. Mitchell

  Neuroscientist, Trinity College Dublin

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  votes Against and says:

  Are we the authors of our own stories? Or is our apparent freedom of choice really an illusion? [...] We, in contrast, are causes of things in our own right. We have agency: We make our own choices and are in charge of our own actions. I am not will... more Unverified source (2023)

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  Francis Collins

  Geneticist, former NIH director

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  votes Against and says:

  I think we all, whether we are religious or not, recognize that free will is a reality. Unverified source (2006)

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  Martin Heisenberg

  Neurobiologist; animal behavior researcher

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  votes Against and says:

  Their brains, in a kind of random walk, continuously preactivate, discard and reconfigure their options, and evaluate their possible short-term and long-term consequences. [...] there is plenty of evidence that an animal’s behaviour cannot be reduced... more Unverified source (2009)

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  Maimonides

  Medieval Jewish philosopher and rabbi

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  votes Against and says:

  Free will is granted to all men. If one desires to turn himself to the path of good and be righteous, the choice is his. Should he desire to turn to the path of evil and be wicked, the choice is his. [...] There is no one who can prevent him from doi... more Unverified source

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  Peter Ulric Tse

  Dartmouth neuroscientist studying volition

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  votes Against and says:

  I am arguing that rapid synaptic reweighting is the physical mechanism that gives humans the power to exercise free will. Unverified source (2013)

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  Alfred Mele

  Philosopher of action and free will

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  votes Against and says:

  As long as Libet-type experiments can't pass analytic muster, free-will illusionists have no real evidence for their conclusion that humans lack free will. Unverified source

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  Raymond Tallis

  Physician-philosopher and humanist writer

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  votes Against and says:

  Free will is not an illusion. [...] Neuro-determinism, though seemingly self-evident, is also wrong. Unverified source (2007)

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  William R. Klemm

  Neuroscientist and author

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  votes Against and says:

  Free Will Is Not an Illusion. [...] Conscious mind has agency—some of it freely determined. [...] Likewise, we have some freedom to sculpt our future nature. Unverified source (2016)

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  William James

  Psychologist and philosopher

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  votes Against and says:

  At any rate, I will assume [...] that it is no illusion. My first act of free will shall be to believe in free will. Unverified source (1870)

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  Sean Carroll

  Physicist and science writer.

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  votes Against and says:

  The concept of baseball is emergent rather than fundamental, but it's no less real for all of that. Likewise for free will. Unverified source (2011)

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  René Descartes

  French philosopher and mathematician.

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  votes Against and says:

  the will is by its nature so free that it can never be constrained Unverified source (1649)

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  Eddy Nahmias

  Philosopher; free will, moral psychology

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  votes Against and says:

  One fall night I lay awake wondering how I should begin this essay. I imagined a variety of ways I could write the first sentence and the next and the one after that. Then I thought about how I could tie those sentences to the following paragraph and... more Unverified source (2015)

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  Daniel Dennett

  Philosopher of mind; compatibilist theorist

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  votes Against and says:

  Yes, yes. The traditional idea of free will where somehow our bodies or our brains are shielded from causation, that’s crap. It’s just gotta be false. [...] So if that’s what you think free will has to be, if you think free will is incompatible with ... more Unverified source (2020)

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