Humans Have Free Will

    The physicalist view, taken to its natural conclusion, asserts that there is no free will.  Modern neuroscience typically assumes this view, which it inherits from modern physics.  It is reasonable to argue this way when discussing ants who cooperate for the greater good of the colony.  It is reasonable to use it when discussing why a mouse chooses to go one way in a maze rather than another.  It is necessary, but not quite as reasonable, to use it when discussing which medications we should give a person with severe depression.  It is not necessary, even harmful, to use it when discussing what motivates a sane person to kill another or sacrifice their life for another.  It becomes harmful because it turns us into animals with no reason and no responsibility.  That is, it states that people are no more than complicated ants.  I have shown that humans have both a physical and a spiritual side.  Because we know that the laws of physics do not take into account humans' spiritual side, and are therefore fundamentally incomplete, there is no particular objection remaining to humans having free will.  However, we must still ask, can we show that humans do have free will? 

    Look again at the knowledge argument.  How do I know what it is like to see red?  That is, how can I have a conscious awareness of redness?  I can actually see red.  If I was color blind from birth, you could never explain to me what it is like to see red.  Similarly, I know what it is like to be free.  I am familiar with the sensation of freedom.  If I had never been free, I would not know what it is like and you could not explain it to me.  We punish people by imprisonment, because people value freedom.  Drug addiction is to be avoided because addicts have less freedom.  If we were not free, imprisonment and drug addiction would cause no change in our awareness of freedom.

    How should we use our freedom?  We know that God is all-knowing, so God can tell good from evil, and all-good, so that God loves good.  Therefore, that which God loves is good, and that which God hates is evil.  It is best if we love what God loves, and hate what God hates.  This means that because God loves God's own self, it is good to love God, and because God loves God's creation, it is good to love God's creation, and because God loves us, it is good to love each other and ourselves.  It is evil to do the reverse of these things.

    The vast majority of the universe has no choice but to obey God's will.  When a rock is dropped, it falls.  It does not have a choice in the matter.  However, we do have a choice.  We know God's will (the law of love) and we go against God's will (breaking the law of love).  That is, God gives us free will.  Now, why does God allow us to go against God's will?  God's love for is is great enough, that God will allow us to turn away from God, if we so desire.  If, in the end, we return God's love, it will be greater because it was freely given.

This page was last changed on 2007/12/28