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Free will is a topic of much philosophical debate

• Do we have free will or are we puppets of determinism?   Do we determine our will or is it part of a causal chain?
• Whether we have free will or not has significant implications, especially regarding moral responsibility for our choices and actions.

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There are many diverging interpretations of what free will is

• The ability to make conscious and voluntary choices.
• The ability to make choices that are not determined by causality or outside influence.
• To have conscious agency over our thoughts, desires and motives.
• The ability to have done other than what we did.
• The ability to act free of impediment or constraint.
• The power to do what we ought to do.

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Many want to believe in free will

• Free will, some argue, is at the heart of our personal power to direct our lives. It is the essence of our freedom, something that distinguishes us from all other living things on earth.  It is something that is infinitely precious.
• Not to have free will means we are puppets of God or external events.
• Free will is seen by some as essential for human dignity.

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We have an intuitive sense of having free will but it may be an illusion

• If we really explore our inner conscious experience of making choices, the intuition no longer feels as strong.

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Argument 1:  We are bound by natural laws of cause and effect

• Our live are effectively fated by laws we have little control over.
• Everything, including our will, is bound by universal forces beyond our control.
• Everything we think and do is determined by natural laws of cause and effect including the cause and effect of our genes and the states of our brains.
• Everything we think and do is caused by the totality of everything that has gone before.
• We are essentially automata controlled by internal programmes and outside forces reacting mostly unconsciously to external events.
• Those who believe in strict causality are called determinists.

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Argument 2: We are bound by our biology and upbringing

• Our will is determined by our biological inheritance and by biochemical events especially the biology of the brain.
• The mind is an algorithm, determined by brain neurology and programming.
• Brain physiology influences our mental states, choices, actions and behaviour and who we are; our inherent character.
• Our will is bound by our genes and upbringing.

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Argument 3: We are bound by factors outside our conscious awareness

• Our will is bound by mental factors that are subconscious, beyond our conscious awareness and control.
• The conscious mind is aware of very little of what goes on in the brain.
• Our conscious “choosing” thoughts arise only after the subconscious brain has already decided.
• Scientific experiments seem to indicate our choices are made at a subconscious level before we are aware of them.
• Some scientists assert it may one-day be possible to predict what you will do before you consciously know what you will do.

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Argument 4: We are bound by emotions and impulses rather than rational thought and reasoning

• As humans, we are rarely as rational as we think we but are driven far more by emotions and impulses that are often irrational; emotions and impulses that we have limited control over.
• Reason is simply a rationalisation of decisions that our emotions made for us.
• Often, we don’t know the reason we want and do things.  We use reason after the fact to justify what we chose without reason.

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Argument 5: We are bound by desires we do not choose

• Our will is bound by our desires and we do not choose our desires.  We have no control over our desires for they are the result of cause and effect.
• Desires arise from a deep, unconscious place and our desires are often in conflict.
• What feels like free will is nothing but the victory of one desire over another.

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Argument 6: We are bound by external societal and economic factors

• Our will is susceptible to the external influences of our culture and the media.
• People are not free to choose and act as they are constrained by social and economic forces, especially financial constraints.

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Letting go of the notion of free will has enormous implications, some positive

• Some argue that giving up the notion of free does not mean we need to become fatalistic. It can actually bring a sense of freedom for without free will, we would be able to let go of the illusion of control and ease more into the stream of life’s events.
• Concepts like sin would lose their relevance.
• Without free will, there would be less judgement and blaming of others for what they do. 
• There would be less self-blame too and wallowing in shame and guilt.
• There would still be a need to punish to act as a deterrence and to imprison dangerous people in order to protect society but it would be done with greater compassion.
• We would focus less on retribution and more on what matters.
• There would be less reason to hate and more reason to love.
• We would need to recognise the role of luck in people’s lives.
• There would be less reason to regret past actions and choices.

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Some argue that, irrespective of whether free will exists or not, as a society we need to believe in it anyway for the following reasons…

• Promoting determinism is irresponsible and even dangerous.
• We need to believe in the concept of free will in order to make effective decisions.
• We need to believe in free will to maintain our sense of moral responsibility.
• Our laws in society are based on there being free will and moral responsibility.
• Without free will, our lives would feel depressing and meaningless
• Without a belief in free will, those in power might argue for greater political control over our lives.
• Experiments indicate that undermining a belief in free-will can have negative effects on people including greater proclivity to stress and unhappiness, a greater chance of cheating, reduced personal effectiveness and reduced altruism.

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Argument 1:  The mind (or soul) enjoys control over the body

• Some argue that mind and matter are separate (dual) and the mind has influence over the body
• If the mind is indeed separate from the body, the argument goes, it is not entirely constrained by the laws of causality
• Even if the mind is derived from matter (not separate), it could still enjoy emergent properties (like free will) not inherent in the building blocks of matter for we and our brains are much more than the sum of our parts
• Even if the mind is entirely emergent from matter , one could argue that the brain, including its subconscious choices, is “you.”

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Argument 2: Laws of cause and effect still leave room for free will

• Some argue cause and effect are compatible with free will if our choices and actions are not constrained.
• Even if we live in a partly deterministic world of cause and effect, quantum mechanics now makes room for uncertainty, randomness and chance. Chance breaks the stronghold of determinism and allows the possibility of free will.
• Some argue there is free will because human choices and behaviour is unpredictable.

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Argument 3:  We have the ability to shape ourselves, including the subconscious programs of our brains

• We have free will thanks to our ability to shape our own characters through conscious intention.
• The physiology of the brain, including the subconscious, is not fixed and can be influenced and reshaped through conscious intention and awareness practices such as mindfulness.
• We are able to gain at least some influence over our desires and urges through self-control and self-discipline.

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Argument 4:  We cannot control our emotions and desires, but we can choose how we respond to them

• We cannot choose our desires but we can decide if we act on them or not.  We cannot choose our emotions, but we can control how we respond to them.

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Argument 5:  We have the ability to make our choices and decisions conscious and deliberate

• We have the ability to reflect and deliberate when making decisions and choices and to use the power of rational thought.
• We are able to base our choices and decisions on conscious values and principles.
• Through conscious choice, we are able to be consciously proactive and we are able to consciously respond to events instead of simply reacting unconsciously.
• We are able to learn from our choices and adapt our choices and behaviour in the future.
• We are able to make thinking conscious and direct our thoughts to a degree although there is a counter argument that we do not control our thoughts; our thoughts control us.

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Free will means we are responsible for our lives and for our choices

• We would have moral responsibility for our actions if our brain chemistry is “normal”.
• We would be responsible for our own lives and how our lives unfold.
• Free will means we are free to choose but not free of the consequences of our choices.

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Free will gives us control over our lives, allowing us to…

• break free from our conditioning and our past.
• break free of negative habits and replace them with positive habits.
• grow and transcend our limits.
• respond creatively to life.
• choose love.
• choose to serve others.
• choose what is beneficial for our well-being.
• consciously choose our beliefs and change our assumptions.
• choose our attitude to life’s events.

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The amount of free will we enjoy depends on how consciously aware we are

• This includes being conscious of the workings of our minds, our emotions and desires and the options available to us when making decisions.
• The more conscious we are, the more free we become to unfold our lives as we consciously wish.
• Through mindfulness and meditation, we can increase the amount of awareness we bring to our inner states and thereby increase the degree of free will we enjoy.

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Religious perspectives

• Many theologians have argued that free will has been bestowed upon us by God as a gift.
• Free will makes the world a more interesting place for both ourselves and God.
• We are free to obey God or disobey God, free to love God or not, free to choose between good or evil, free to carry out God’s plans or not and free to believe in God or not.
• The existence of free will is often used by theologians to explain why there is evil and suffering in the world, despite God’s omnipotence.
• Other theologians argue that our free will, if it exists at all, is very limited.
• Some argue that heaven and hell are free choices that God gives us while others argue there is no such thing as free will if certain choices lead to eternal damnation and suffering.
• Some argue that despite the gift of free will, God sometimes protects us from ourselves as an act of grace while others disagree.
• Some argue that is it difficult to reconcile an omniscient God who knows the future with a God who allows the unpredictability of free will. Others argue this is possible due to God existing out of time.
• Some argue that determinism denigrates the fairness of God’s justice.

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A spiritual perspective

• According to Advaeta Vedanta, there is no such thing as free will; only the seeming appearance of it which is an illusion.
• The illusion of free will is a kind of bondage and is caused by the illusory sense of being a separate self (ego). In reality, there is no separate self; no chooser or doer.  There is simply thoughts, emotions, sensations and perceptions arising in consciousness including the arising of desires and choices that we do not control.
• We are not the conscious thinker of our thoughts.  Everything, including thought, intention and choice is simply arising in awareness, dreamed by consciousness.
• Consciousness (which we are in essence) is inherently free but this freedom does not belong to the separate self.
• One’s life is unfolded on the fly by consciousness and its degree of freedom to unfold one’s life in delightful ways is dependent on one’s level of consciousness.
• We raise our level of consciousness, and hence our degree of freedom, by connecting to Inner Being, by increasing our degrees of awareness and allowing our choices and actions to arise from a place of inner stillness.
• We cannot choose or act beyond our level of consciousness. When we are unconscious, we follow the script of our conditioning so there isn’t really any free will or choice.
• True freedom is to dis-identify with the body and mind and to discover one’s true nature as unlimited consciousness. It is to transcend attachment and desire.  It is to sit back in the seat of awareness and allow life to live through you.  
• By surrendering our will to God and surrendering to the choiceless awareness of what is here now, a deep universal intelligence beyond the mind takes over and manages our life.
• Transcending the illusion of free will brings freedom to the mind, allowing it to release its exaggerated sense of control and responsibility, thus allowing us to ease into the stream of life’s events.

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• Maybe the truth lies in a combination of both free will and determinism.  We are free but within the confines of determinism. Life is partly destiny and partly free will. The fact that our lives are directed both by determinism and free will is a paradoxical truth. Our lives are a combination of conscious and subconscious mental events.  Our lives are a combination of chance and deliberation.  Our lives are determined by a combination of rational and irrational choices.
• We are free to a degree but not as free as we might think.
• While there may be no such thing as absolute freedom, some people are more free than others and some choices are more free than others.
• If there is such a thing as free will, it needs the presence of conscious awareness to function. To be free, we need to be conscious and aware. The less conscious we are, the less free we are.  
• Freedom increases when we consciously respond to events instead of reacting unconsciously according to our subconscious conditioning.
• In this play of form called life, there is the appearance of free will. We can either embrace the sense of being the active agents of our lives or surrender it to God and allow life to live through us.

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Freedom increases through conscious choice and deliberate decision making

• Being aware of the power of choice and that we always have a choice.
• Being aware of the best course to take based on our long term well-being.
• Being aware of short-term verse long term payoffs.
• Being aware of our criteria for choice making.
• Being aware of what is driving our choices (emotions, reasoning, desires, intentions) and being happy with that.
• Being aware of the options, alternatives and possibilities available to us.
• Being clear on one’s desired outcome when making a choice.

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Freedom increases with self-awareness

• Increased awareness of one’s emotions, motives, desires, needs and intentions.
• Increased degrees of awareness through meditation and mindfulness.
• Living consciously according to conscious values and principles.
• Making the unconscious (the shadow) conscious.
• Self-knowledge

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Freedom also increases with …

• Wisdom, inner wisdom, intelligence
• Discernment, common sense
• Thinking
• Increased powers of reason, logic, rationality
• Increased powers of intuition
• Knowledge
• Learning, reflection
• Growth, evolution
• Emotional intelligence
• Potential and possibility
• Talent, mastery, skill, expertise
• Confidence and self-belief
• Proactiveness
• Financial abundance
• Open-mindedness
• Imagination
• Vision
• A sense of clarity and purpose
• Inspiration
• Exploration
• Transcending desire
• Self-control, will power, self-discipline
• Integrity
• Transcendence of one’s limits
• Acceptance
• Letting go of the past
• Non-attachment to outcome
• Learning to say no
• Courage, boldness, risk taking, transcending fear
• Health
• Willingness, motivation, commitment, energy
• Questioning one’s assumptions, beliefs, opinions

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Freedom comes through raising one’s level of consciousness, which paradoxically most happens by surrendering one’s will to God

• Surrendering the sense of being a separate agent (ego)
• Surrendering one’s will to God
• Trust in God and divine order
• Going with the the flow
• Prayer, meditation, mindfulness, contemplation, devotion, love, compassion, selfless service etc.
• A sense of oneness with all.
• When one raises one’s level of consciousness, a supreme intelligence beyond the conscious mind runs one’s life.

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• Limited awareness
• Ignorance
• The extent of the subconscious (the shadow)
• A low level of consciousness
• Fatalism and resignation
• Apathy and indifference
• Poverty
• A lack of self-control and will power
• Susceptibility to addiction, temptation and cravings
• Closed-mindedness and stubbornness
• Fear (of criticism, of disapproval, of punishment, of failure)
• Anxiety
• Fatigue, lack of energy
• Lack of confidence, self-belief
• Doubt
• Low states of consciousness
• Laws and rules
• Being a slave to one’s emotions
• Illusion and ignorance
• Limiting beliefs
• Rigid belief, closed mindedness
• Prejudice
• Limitation
• Stupidity
• Impulse
• Entrenched habit and ritual
• Being a slave to tradition and convention
• Conformity
• Approval seeking, worrying what others think
• Poverty
• Limiting beliefs
• Unquestioned assumptions
• Excessive desire, cravings, compulsion
• Limitation
• Laziness
• Lack of energy
• Busyness
• Conscience
• Being a prisoner of regret, guilt, shame, resentment
• Conditioning

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