Free Will, Determinism, And Choice

Both determinism and free will are metaphysical assumptions. In other words, they are presuppositions of thought.

Neither is a presupposition of thought. You don't have to presume free will, beyond some general decision making ability, and you don't have to presume strict determinism beyond some good-enough causal reliability. Moreover, both are potentially discoverable as facts.

A choice must be determined by your mental processes, knowledge and desires. If choices arose out of nowhere, as uncaused causes, they would not be choices.

False dichotomy. A choice can be influenced by your mental processes, knowledge and desires without being determined by them.

A choice is not an uncaused cause. A choice is when thought generates an intention, based on pre-existing preferences and knowledge, and that intention generates action toward making the intention real.

You can't assume that any kind of choice counts as free will.

Free will is not “free” in the sense of being uncaused. It is “free” in the sense that you are the cause

I see determinism, you are not the cause, only a cause. The choice you made was already a fact before you were born.

. If an uncaused cause arose out of nowhere and made you pick the chocolate, that would not be a choice. It would be a strange, supernatural event.

Indeterminism based free will doesn't have to separate you from your own desires, values, and goals, because, realistically ,they are often conflicting , so that they don't determine a single action. This point is explained by the parable of the cake. If I am offered a slice of cake, I might want to take it so as not to refuse my hostess, but also to refuse it so as to stick to my diet. Whichever action I chose, would have been supported by a reason. Reasons and actions can be chosen in pairs.

. By contrast, I am free to make a cup of coffee right now, because I have the power to turn that intention into a reality.

That's only freedom in the compatibilists sense.

Determinism is a presupposition of science

No, much of science is statistical and probablistic.

The free will | determinism paradox is one of a family of paradoxes created by thinking about the self as an object.

Determinism excludes libertarian free will by removing the ability to have done otherwise: you have offered nothing to restore it.

You are free to choose between A or B if your choice will determine the outcome.

Right, but there's a lot of conflation between what people should think I am and what they do unfairly think I am, which to be fair is a real thing, though it's a real thing which the thing that people should think I am is trapped inside of, and to the extent that it is responsible for causing problems which the thing people should think I am are inclined to blame by nonconsensual association, it is parasitic, and the thing which people should think I am is a victim.

Hello! I would like to read this article, but unfortunately it shows that the file has been moved to the trash