In the light of two more recent rounds of the perennial Free Will discussion elsewhere, I think I now finally understand the incompatiblist position. Let's see if I got this right.
Free Speech. The right to express one's opinion without being punished. Generally considered to find its limits in libel and incitement to violence. In the stricter sense limited to the understanding that the government should not be able to punish a person for expressing their political views; on the other hand it can be argued that free speech in this strict sense alone would be hollow, that expressing an unpopular opinion should not be grounds for losing one's job either. Either way, this concept does not imply anything magic, is perfectly compatible with a deterministic universe, and we are free to say it.
Academic Freedom. Same as free speech but in the context of university employees, particularly tenured professors. Sometimes misunderstood to mean that professors have the right not to do the job they are being paid for without facing any repercussions at all, e.g. when somebody uses what should have been a science course to promote their religious beliefs or political ideology. Most importantly, this concept does not imply anything magic, is perfectly compatible with a deterministic universe, and we are free to say it.
Degrees of Freedom (Statistics). The number of parameters that can vary, that are not determined by others. In many models or statistical tests this number is one less than the total number of parameters, as the value of the last parameter follows necessarily from the values of the others. This concept does not imply anything magic, is perfectly compatible with a deterministic universe, and we are free to say it.
Degrees of Freedom (Mechanics). The number of ways in which a machine can move, counting dimensions and rotations around dimensions. A locomotive for example would have one, a car three (two dimensions and rotation around the third), an aeroplane six. This concept does not imply anything magic, is perfectly compatible with a deterministic universe, and we are free to say it.
Freedom of Religion. The right to practice one's religious faith without being punished for it. Sometimes badly confused with the right to also force others to adhere to the rules of one's own religion or to discriminate against members of other religions. This concept does not imply anything magic, is perfectly compatible with a deterministic universe, and we are free to say it.
Freedom of Movement. Commonly understood to mean the right to move without restriction through one's own country, including choosing one's place of residence, and to leave the country and return to it. This concept does not imply anything magic, is perfectly compatible with a deterministic universe, and we are free to say it.
Free Lunch / Entry / Drinks / etc. Descriptive of receiving a service or item that usually has to be paid for, without having to pay for it in this instance, generally because somebody else pays for it. Funnily enough this concept does not imply anything magic, is perfectly compatible with a deterministic universe, and we are free to say it.
Free Press. The right of the news media to report what is going on without being punished for it. Generally understood to be reasonably limited by the right to privacy and national security concerns. Generally understood to be an important aspect of a functioning democracy, as only a well informed electorate can make well informed decisions. This concept does not imply anything magic, is perfectly compatible with a deterministic universe, and we are free to say it.
Free Range Chickens. Chickens that are, while still obviously fenced in so that they do not escape, given a healthy amount of room to move around, as opposed to "battery" hens. This concept does not imply anything magic, is perfectly compatible with a deterministic universe, and we are free to say it.
Free Fall. The situation in which the only significant force acting on a body is gravity, as opposed to being held up by the ground or being slowed down by a parachute. Even this concept does not, despite having the word "free" in it, imply anything magic, is perfectly compatible with a deterministic universe, and we are free to say it.
Free Style. Being allowed to conduct an activity without having to follow strict rules or being required to achieve a set goal. This concept does not imply anything magic, is perfectly compatible with a deterministic universe, and we are free to say it.
Free Will. The ability to contemplate different possible courses of action and then decide between them in the absence of external pressure or pathological compulsion, resulting in actions that match one's preferences. Despite its equivalence with most of the other terms above, acceptance of this concept (and only of this concept) implies a belief in magic and a rejection of deterministic rules of cause-and-effect. Although a compatibilist view like the one just described was already promoted by the determinist stoics of Greek Antiquity, this view is actually nothing but goal-post moving by unreasonable contemporary philosophers who don't want to accept that neurophysiology has shown determinism to be true. And of course until a few years ago nobody ever had that determinism idea. What stoics? No idea what you are talking about. While we are at it, please ignore all religious traditions that have promoted determinism for hundreds of years because their gods are omniscient; focus on the traditions that have promoted magical, non-determinist Free Will because they were troubled by the Problem of Evil. Using the term even under the non-magical, compatibilist definition given earlier aids them (somehow), so the term Free Will (and only this term, but none of the other equivalent concepts containing the word "free") should not be used any more. Because that is totally going to happen. And when we need to describe the difference between, say, a coldly calculating thief and a kleptomaniac we will come up with something. Perhaps just use "voluntary" and pretend it is not simply the Latin translation of Germanic "out of one's own free will". Or maybe we don't need a word to describe the difference after all, because due to determinism the former had as little choice as the latter; then again, we also believe that there is a difference after all because we would still lock the former up but give the latter treatment, so maybe a term would be useful; then again, due to determinism the former had as little choice as the latter... (Oops, I think I entered an infinite loop there.)
Is that about correct? Bit uncertain about the end, but well, I am not an incompatibilist. There might also simply be different perspectives in the incompatibilist camp.
The blog of a systematic botanist of German origin, now working in Australia. It covers botany, phylogenetics, cladistics, science in general, freethought, and occasionally sillier issues.
Not sure to understand your point. Unless you believe in some kind of magical soul, your brain is a computer. And a computer cannot be said to have a Free Will, even "in the absence of external pressure or pathological compulsion".
ReplyDeleteLe sigh.
Delete"Unless you believe in some kind of magic, falling follows the laws of physics. And what follows the laws of physics cannot be said to be free, therefore nothing can be in free fall, even in the absence of any force except gravity."
"Unless you believe in some kind of magic, your stomach is just a chemical reactor. And a chemical reactor cannot be said to have a free lunch, even in the absence of lunch expenses."
"Unless you believe in some kind of magical teleportation, even somebody outside of prison is limited in their movement. And somebody limited in their movement cannot be said to have free movement, even when they are outside of prison."
Etc.
I am still not sure what you mean.
DeleteDo you mean that a computer has a "free will"?
Yes, free fall is not free, here "free" means "without friction".
etc.
I still don't see what is "free will". Can a robot have free will?
And I am sorry, I am really not sure how I can express the idea in a way that goes beyond the original post. In every other instance where "free" is used there is no claim of magic. Similarly, "free will" just means voluntary to many of us, is nothing but the Germanic word for Latin voluntary. Out of my own free will means without coercion, just like free speech means without punishment. No magic in either case.
DeleteI do not think that it makes sense to talk of free will if a robot is as simple as the ones we have today. But to the degree that something has internal preferences and works towards realising them I would argue it has a will; I can imagine a sufficiently complicated robot where it would make sense to talk of free will in the same way as we do about humans, as in rational thought being able to override instinctive urges that would ultimately frustrate the attempts to achieve one's desires, and as in not being under coercion from another agent.
OK, but if Free Will just means self-control (for a human or a complex robot), then the words "Free Will" are unneeded and "self-control" is enough. Subsystems responsible for this self-control are themselves determined, and "internal preferences" come from somewhere external (or are due to a random process). So I cannot see the point of using "Free Will" anywhere.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't say that self-control is exactly the same thing. But sure, there are probably lots of words we wouldn't really need. The point here is that it currently seems fashionable among some people to insinuate if not state outright that everybody who uses Free Will in a non-magical sense is at best confused but probably dishonest. This post is meant to show that the non-magical sense is consistent with many, if not all, other uses of the word free.
Delete