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To: Alamo-Girl; Right Wing Professor
It is however quite instructive to understand how the other worldviews rationalize free will.

I think we have limited free will. We have the freedom to decide our actions, but only within a rather narrow range of possibilities. As far as human lives go, that's still a large field of action, and it can give us lives as impressive as those of Alexander the Great and George Washington. Or we can get lives as narrow and circumscribed as those of a dull government clerk. Between those very real boundries we have free will.

We are not free to do things that would be beyond the capabilities of our bodies, technology, and minds. And society imposes great restraints (which is why Alexanders and Washingtons are very rare). I assume (but cannot know) that the range of "forbidden" activities is infinite, and therefore the range of our free will is very small. From a god's viewpoint, it may be that we have no free will at all. Still, to us it's free will.

Similarly, my dogs have free will -- within the limits of their abilities, and also within the limits that I allow. They can't leave the house or yard, for example, unless it's under my control. Do they know that? Do they ever think that it would be really nice to leave home without me and visit the park? I doubt it. I'm aware of the limitations on my dogs, but they aren't. Just as we are not really aware of all the limitations on us. But we don't know what we can't know; so we're happy, right?

So yeah, we have free will. And it's not an illusion. I think the extent of our free will is probably illusory. But I try not to let it trouble me.

829 posted on 12/10/2003 12:09:42 PM PST by PatrickHenry (Felix, qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas.)
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To: PatrickHenry
How bizarre! You and I were both thinking about boundaries at the same time we were posting! Get out of my head, PatrickHenry.

LOLOL! Thank you for sharing your views on free will.

You are evidently not a strong determinist and put a bit more weight on the "future" side of js1138's see-saw. Nevertheless I would still call it a balancing act, as you observe:

So yeah, we have free will. And it's not an illusion. I think the extent of our free will is probably illusory. But I try not to let it trouble me.


834 posted on 12/10/2003 12:27:29 PM PST by Alamo-Girl
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