I'm free to do what I want - I think (03.12.24)

Life is like a game of cards. The hand you are dealt is determinism; the way you play it is free will. [Nehru]

I like this quote. It’s clever, but is it right? The French philosopher, Sartre, thought it was. He likened our birth to finding ourselves on a stage that someone else has designed. Once we’re on it, we can do whatever we want.

This libertarian position sees the future as open. Nothing can be known about it because it hasn’t happened yet. Anything is possible. When you have a decision to make, you think through the different options and try to guess the outcome. Maybe you’re tempted to tell a lie to get out of trouble or maybe you’re worried it will only make things worse. You don’t know, but once you’ve made the decision and acted on it, nothing can change it. It’s set in stone.

That’s why we’re so quick to wag the finger. Even our legal system is built on the assumption that people are free. Make a bad decision, and you’re up before the Judge. If you were coerced, the Court will take that into consideration.

But there’s a serious problem here. It goes against a basic scientific law, that everything is caused by something else. If you agree that the lights cut because of a thunder storm or the dinner was burnt because the oven was too high, then surely your decision to tell a lie is because of something that came before it.

Nehru and Sartre argue that everything in the world is caused by something else except our choices, and this is very odd. But if they’re right, why do you try to predict what someone is going to do, and why can your predictions often be right? Surely, this is because your choices aren’t free but are caused by your factors such as your genetics and your psychology. You choose to do X rather than Y because of who you are.

Think about it. If you don’t make decisions based on your character, then who is making them? It can’t be you, because you are your character. But if your decision is based on your character, then you aren’t free in the absolute sense that Nehru and Sartre are talking about. That’s why we say things like, ‘what did you expect? Look at the way she was brought up!’ We’re saying she couldn’t have done otherwise because of her past.

This isn’t the same as predeterminism. Predeterminism argues for an intelligence which knows all time, so that your actions are determined by their knowledge of what you will do. The position I’m posing here makes a lesser claim: your choices are caused by what happened earlier. 

This isn’t a licence to let people off the hook. We can still imprison murderers, not because they could have done otherwise but because we want to discipline and train them (much as we do with dogs).  We might also need to protect society from them.

Of course, you can disagree with this position. No one really knows the truth. Maybe our mind isn’t controlled by the laws of physics or perhaps the indeterminacy of quantum mechanics explains how uncaused decisions are made.

I admit to being confused. As a theist, I need freewill to answer the problem of evil but I’m convinced I decide things based on my personality. To wiggle out of the mess, I’m tempted to agree with Kant: the way we perceive the world isn’t necessarily the way it is.

But that’s a discussion for another time.