--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu <noozguru@...> wrote: > > On 06/08/2011 07:53 PM, Xenophaneros Anartaxius wrote: > > Sam Harris has posted a second follow up to his post on his own blog about > > free will (the link to which tartbrain originally posted on this forum). In > > this post he takes a slightly different tack on the subject: > > > > You Do Not Choose What You Choose > > > > Many readers continue to find my position on free will bewildering. Most of > > the criticism Iâve received consists of some combination of the following > > claims: > > > > 1. Your account assumes that mental events are, at bottom, physical > > events. But if the mind is distinct from the brain (to any degree), this > > would allow for freedom of will. > > > > 2. You admit that mental eventsâ"like choices, efforts, intentions, > > reasoning, etcâ"cause certain of our actions. But such mental states > > presuppose free will for their very existence. Your position is > > self-contradictory: Either we are free to think and behave as we will, or > > there is no such thing as choice, effort, intention, reasoning, etc. > > > > 3. Even if my thoughts and actions are the product of unconscious > > causes, they are still my thoughts and actions. Anything that my brain does > > or chooses, whether consciously or not, is something that I have done or > > chosen. The fact that I cannot always be subjectively aware of the causes > > of my actions does not negate free will. > > > > All of these objections express confusion about my basic premise. The first > > is simply falseâ"my argument against free will does not require > > philosophical materialism. There is no question that (most) mental events > > are the product of physical eventsâ"but even if the human mind were part > > soul-stuff, nothing about my argument would change. The unconscious > > operations of a soul would grant you no more freedom than the unconscious > > physiology of your brain does. > > > > Continues: > > http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/you-do-not-choose-what-you-choose/ > > Cosmic masturbation. Why waste your time?
Doesn't have the free will not to?
