Catching up a bit, I discussed free will on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme on Saturday. I was talking with Mark Vernon, who does this kind of thing regularly. Mark is an author and blogger, and I think he was chosen because he’d discussed the free will chapter in 13 Things on his Philosophy and Life blog (which, incidentally, is one of the Sunday Times' 100 best blogs).
We only had the last three minutes (as Mark said, to cover a debate that’s been going on for thousands of years!) of the programme so didn’t get to say anything profound. But I thought I’d just throw out a couple of words about what Mark’s blog entry said.
It’s interesting how almost no one (me included) gives up free will without a fight. For the Greeks, it was an easy fight to survive, at least. But with modern neuroscience, I think we’re all in danger of losing. Not that anyone apart from neuroscientists admit that.
Mark, for instance, says:
…there is this 'the brain did it' talk. But whose brain, you can ask? Well, my brain. And is there a division between me and my brain? Presumably not. So even if 'my brain did it', that is still me. There's no dualism. Free will, then, is just shown to be more subtle than pure conscious intent, which strikes me as pretty obvious.
I can’t help think, though, that this is just evasion. If free will is not pure conscious intent, what is it? How do you define it? If you say it’s “more subtle” than intent – you’re essentially taking its teeth out and saying free will is not about intention. How can that be?
And who or what is “me”? It’s a construct – albeit a very useful one. Choices are made by brains. Brains are made of molecules that move through various states - and ultimately obey the laws of quantum mechanics. We are brain-machines.
It’s OK to pretend we have a soul or a “me” inside us – that delusion is what has evolved to make us the reflective and brilliantly adaptable species we are. Modern neuroscience just plays the role of the boy in the Emperor’s New Clothes, and tells us we are naked. But, in free will terms, at least, it’s not disastrous to be naked. And it’s not disastrous to pretend we’re not. As Steven Pinker said, “free will is a fiction, but it has applications in the real world.”
Subscribe