PSY 235 Lecture Notes - Lecture 21: Compatibilism, Indeterminism, Determinism
Document Summary
Compatibilism: yes, but it depends on definition. Free will: the ability to reflect on course of action, and to make decisions based on one"s beliefs and preferences. We are responsible for our own actions. Our choices are predictable to some degree. E. g. elections, crime, economic choices, love/romance, etc. Our ability to make choices are constrained by beliefs/preferences influenced by. Conscious choice follows non-conscious brain activity in fmri expts. Nonconscious processes give rise to conscious choices. Conscious choices can be deliberated, analyzed, and this process acts back on non-conscious impulses. Predictability and constraints actually critical to having the kind of free will worth having. Stability is a virtue we need predictability to coordinate to make sense of the world. Not worth having, because our fundamental concepts of value necessarily depends on constraints to our will. Our conscious selves still matter can override non-conscious processes and even change history.
