FREE WILL AND DETERMINISM THE WEB OF LIFE

Course Objectives: The objective of this course is to examine the basic concepts of free will and determinism from numerous perspectives, both from moral and empirical levels. Our basic understanding of the physical world offers a deterministic picture of the universe, where all effects depend on prior causes; whereas such a causal chain casts doubt on the possibility of a “free choice”. As each prior effect causes another, it seems logical to suggest that a person can never be the ultimate cause of her/his action. Understanding and correctly interpreting this basic problem requires a dialogue between philosophy, religion, physics, psychology and neuroscience. Moreover, answering such a question has important practical impacts: on our attitude towards moral blame and responsibility, as well as some recent discussions on AI (the criteria of a free consciousness). 

Course Content: Some of the main topics and questions are as following:

• Is freedom ultimately an illusion?
• Can our actions be both determined and free;
• The difference between determinism, necessity and destiny;
• How to interpret the free will experiments of Libet (1983)?
• Case studies and thought experiments in social sciences (Phineas Gage, The Case of Leopold and Loeb (1924), the effects of rationalization through hypnosis and confabulation, the Milgram experiment (1961), Frankfurt cases) Is it possible to attribute indeterminism to the operations of the universe, and if so, can this stand as a possible explanation of free will? (Various interpretations of quantum mechanics and their applicability to our deliberation processes)