Hi Tom,
Tom Carr:
Florian Weps:
Whose agenda does it serve to make believe that there are just these two possibilities?
What other possibilities do you see? I don't see any others. That doesn't mean they don't exist, but just that I don't see them. Tell me your thoughts.
Okay, a few thoughts - not answers, mind you:
Well, like J Adam G said, the question sucks, which is why I re-phrased it in terms of the assumptions it's based on. That's one of the possibilities I see, right there. How is free will affected by the paralysing dilemma of free will? (Or, if you prefer the traditional Theravada imagery, to which regiment in the armies of Mara does the question of free will vs. determinism belong to?)
Freedom, by its very nature, doesn't like to be pinned down - another observation J Adam G made in his great post. So another possibility would be to look at the constraints instead: what are the conditions under which will operates? Which degrees of freedom are available, given these constraints? Phrased differently, which are the constants, which are the variables? How does the "freedom curve" look like? Are there perhaps some phase shifts, discontinuities in the curve? This brings the question back into the realm of how the universe works, and we can avoid idealizing freedom into various notions of randomness ("are tumbling dice a model of free will? They have to show a face, so they are not free; they can show any of their faces, thus they are free...")
Does will have a location? Is it sensible to speak of "my" free will, vs. "your" free will? Is will a sensation, i.e. something that can be observed? If so, how does it present itself? How is it different from, say, desire? Can I desire will? Can I will desire?
Cheers,
Florian