HumbleFlea

HumbleFlea t1_j991qxd wrote

Reply to comment by ElegantAd2607 in “The principle of protecting our own thinking from eavesdroppers is fundamental to autonomy.” – Daniel Dennett debates the sort of free will it’s worth wanting with neuroscientists Patrick Haggard and philosopher Helen Steward by IAI_Admin

If my wants and needs, propelled by my brain and body, cause me to choose X, they can’t also make me choose Y unless those wants and needs, body and brain change somehow. If everything stays the same so does the choice

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HumbleFlea t1_j8jbjki wrote

Reply to comment by JZweibel in “The principle of protecting our own thinking from eavesdroppers is fundamental to autonomy.” – Daniel Dennett debates the sort of free will it’s worth wanting with neuroscientists Patrick Haggard and philosopher Helen Steward by IAI_Admin

But again, that “criteria” isn’t causa sui. If your “criteria“ determines your choice to become violent when the waiter flirts with your wife it’s the “criteria” that needs to change. If you can’t use your agency to change the “criteria” that causes what you choose, what good is it?

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HumbleFlea t1_j8fh3y8 wrote

Reply to comment by Devinology in “The principle of protecting our own thinking from eavesdroppers is fundamental to autonomy.” – Daniel Dennett debates the sort of free will it’s worth wanting with neuroscientists Patrick Haggard and philosopher Helen Steward by IAI_Admin

No, phenomenologically you felt like you could have acted otherwise. That’s an important distinction. And while an individual’s experience is very important, so too is the truth of the inevitability of all behaviour. Laypeople understanding that no matter what a person has done they could not have chosen differently is of much greater importance than clinging to the notion of experiencing options and calling it free will

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