Freewill and conscious thought?
Hello all! Here I am, about to open the proverbial can of worms! Are you ready for some superfantastic fun? Because we're about to go skinny-dipping into one of the deepest, darkest realms of the universe, namely ourselves!
Thus, I'd like to open up a dialogue on freewill and conscious thought. Let me be upfront: I readily acknowledge that both of these things exist, and that neither one of them makes any sense whatsoever; but of course, neither do the alternatives.
Very well then!
Let's start by defining our terms. By freewill, I mean the ability to make decisions that are determined by their final cause; or rather, to select through careful deliberation one path out of many. I do not mean to imply that decisions are uncaused as some people do. I mean that we are the ones who determine our own decisions; freewill is self-determining, in other words.
But how is freewill "self-determining?" We experience this phenomenon everyday of our lives, but are somehow at a loss to explain it. I think the answer is for more simple than we might suspect.
Here, I'm going to briefly accommodate myself to Aristotelian terms, because even today they still have much to recommend them, especially in regard to their simplicity.
Ultimately, our will is compelled by the Good (i.e. True Happiness). When presented with various options, we deliberate, and then go with the option that, at least as far as we know, brings us closest to this Goal. The reason why the will is called "free" is because the will is what, here and now, determines which option we go with.
The will would not be "free" if, for instance, you did all your mental calculations, decided to turn left, and then watched in dismay as you turned right. All that "free" means is that you are determining the path (regardless of what you think "you" actually is, e.g. spirit, matter, flubber, etc...).
Consciousness is very closely related to freewill. In a nutshell, consciousness is the perception of physical states. Thus, when I alter physical states, I consequently alter the perception of those physical states.
A thought experiment is in order. Imagine you're sitting in an empty classroom with a table at the front. There's a soda can on right side of the table, and I move it to the left side of the table. As a result of changing the physical state of the room, I have altered your perception of it; before, you perceived the soda can to be in a different position than it is now.
So, it shouldn't surprise us that when the brain is altered, so is our conscious state. After all, consciousness is the perception of physical states. But the perception of physical states is distinct, though perhaps not separate, from the physical states themselves.
This gives rise to some pretty bizarre implications. There probably is an immaterial aspect to reality, being defined as the experience of the material. More perplexing, science may actually be able to study at least some aspects of this immaterial realm, based on how alterations in matter affect it. It's pretty simple to think of experiments on how to do this, so I'll leave that part up to you all.
This is where it all ties back in with free will. Perceptions of physical states (maybe also a few perceptions of perceptions) are what cause us to determine our choices, when we understand this cause to be in the category of what Aristotle referred to as final causes (i.e. the Good/Goal). This point bears repeating; perceptions of physical states are what cause US to determine OUR choices.
This allows us to clarify what freewill means a little bit more. The will is free when we, based on our perception of physical states, determine our own decisions. The will is not free if these decisions are made first, and then determine the will. The will is also not free when we are forced to act against our desires, and have no ability to resist (i.e. Alien mind control; the poor B-movie heroine becomes a hapless observer as her body runs around town killing people, taking their brainstems, and reporting back to the mother-ship).
Thoughts? Comments?
