FreeWill

Definitions of Free Will
There are many competing definitions for Free Will which are debated in tandem to the arguments that there is or isn't "free will" by a given definition. The controversy seems to revolve primarilly around the conclusions of deterministic interpretations of physics and "single consequence cause and effect". This idea of cause and effect was widely accepted by natural philosophers of the Newtonian era, but is contradicted by modern physics' Standard Model. Some people believe in deterministic interpretations of cause and effect but still believe in free will, this view is called Compatibilism. See the.

There is no single interpretation of Quantum Mechanical cause and effect which is widely accepted but in general there are at least multiple possible effects to a cause, and there seems to be an inexplicable spontenaity to which effect occurs. This is not intentionality, but does allow for a break from determinism. Questions of cause and effect are crucial in theories of justice, which involve assigning responsibility, which presumes a freedom of the while. Theories of compatibilism and other versions of unfree-will have to address why people have an illusion of will, even the proponents theselves, while advocates of freedom have to deal with the problems of undetermined causes.

Another aspect of the argument seems to relate to definitions of "freedom" and the notion that "free will" means "unfettered will". Those that say there are limits to the will, that it is not free nor unfree, but constrained argue there are alternate ways to understand intentionality and the will, such as the TheoryOfWillPower. Alternate definitions can be inserted in the text, if appropriate, or placed in the list below. Editing this page should consiste of processing the list below into the text to reflect the patterns within the different definitions.

List of Definitions

 * LawOfCauseAndEffect/TheoryOfWillPower
 * LawOfCauseAndEffect/Compatibilism