Ecurb wrote: ↑March 22nd, 2023, 10:40 am
LuckyR wrote: ↑March 22nd, 2023, 1:02 am
A couple of things.
First, common spoken language (words like choose, select, opt and options) reflect Free Will because the entirety of human experience is consistent with there being Free Will. Whereas none of human experience is consistent with a Deterministic universe as far as animal decision making is concerned. Determinism (as pertains to decision making) exists exclusively in the minds of philosophers who believe in it. Having said that, it is true that decision making could be determined, that is it has NOT been disproven.
Thus there is a fundamental difference between a universe where you ponder where to have lunch and you truly select to eat at McDonald's instead of Pizza Hut (that is, either was possible) and a universe where given your memories of your past experiences, your state of mind and the status of a myriad of other variables you will ALWAYS select McDonalds even though you may consider Pizza Hut.
Is there really a "fundamental difference" (from our point of view)? Is fate vs. free will a philosophical problem, or a lingusitic puzzle?
Of course there are reasons for choices. Does that mean they are not freely made?
The card player thinks there is a 1/13 chance of drawing an ace off the top of the deck. But, of course, he is wrong. Either there is an ace on the top, or their isn't. Anyone who can see the other side of the card knows there is either a 100% or 0% chance of drawing an ace. It's already been determined, after the shuffle. But are the card players calculations incorrect? I'd suggest they are not. He is calculating properly from his point of view.
The same is the case with free will. If our choice is "free" (unconstrained by other people), it's perfectly reasonable to talk about free will. It's coherent and meaningful. Why is the concept of free will negated just because we make choices for a reason?
My point is this: I don't think determinism and free will are contradictory or mutually exclusive.
You are correct that from the POV of the subject (prospectively) there is no difference currently between Free Will and Determinism, that is both appear as Free Will to our ability to perceive it.
Thus Determinism as you supposed only exists in the mind of philosophers.
As to playing cards, there is a 1/13 chance of an ace being on the top (jokers excluded), but there is either a 100% or 0% CERTAINTY that it is an ace. Those two declarations address separate things.
I don't personally subscribe to your (apparent) definition of Free Will, which sounds to my ears like "random", that is: uninflenced. My definition is: antecedant state A does NOT always lead to resultant state B, sometimes it is C.
"As usual... it depends."