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by naasking 2754 days ago
> And so the question of "free will" should really be disentangled from physics, once and for all.

Welcome to Compatibilism!

1 comments

Yeah, maybe. Although (from what I can see) compatibilism is more like carving a niche for free will in an otherwise deterministic universe. I find that the "deterministic universe" is a concept without sufficient empirical support. It is a nebulous abstraction of reality, a faith good as any, but even as such it has a structure (a meaning) that disqualifies it from interfering with any practical notion of "free will" as outlined above.

A more pertinent question is really why the question (of whether "free will" exists) is posed at all. I find that it is often for anti-religious reasons, sometimes for moral responsibility evasion, and sometimes because people want to avoid the all too common cases where a single individual (or group of) is chastised when other factors (like circumstances, other people's actions) are just as important. The former two I don't care for much, that latter is more likable, even if none of them accomplish what they seek using this line of reasoning IMO.

> A more pertinent question is really why the question (of whether "free will" exists) is posed at all.

Good question. See my reply to this post for an answer: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18608440