Free Will.

[jason1990]

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I haven't believed in free will for about 8 years now. I was going through some hard times and used to take long walks to get away from my situation. On one of these walks, I came up with a theory that I later learned is similar to if not exactly like what Buddhists call the law of dependent origination. I don't know if I have the buddhists philosophy right but to to me it means that every action is based on the action/decision/perception that directly preceded it. And of course that action/decesion/perception was based on the one right before it. And you can go back all the way until the time when you or any individual was just a toddler.

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But in Buddhism, I believe that one wants to become enlightened and escape this chain of causation. So if you regard the law of dependent origination as the opposite of free will, then I suppose the (Buddhist) conclusion is that free will exists, but only for the enlightened.

[jt1]

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Again, this is the all behavior is conditioning or selection idea rearing its head.

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You've probably answered it before on this forum, but what do you make of it? You believe in it or not?

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Free will cannot be understood in a scientific framework. It is an illusion or it is supernatural.

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Well said. Logically, i think, free will can be shown to be unlikely. But it's not something no experiment can prove or disprove. By the way, the principle of randomness shows that the Universes own laws are illogical, at least from our point of view, before we invented a math to explain them. (feel free to flame me for that comment) So even though free will isn't the logical conclusion, it may still be the reality of our lives.

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But in Buddhism, I believe that one wants to become enlightened and escape this chain of causation. So if you regard the law of dependent origination as the opposite of free will, then I suppose the (Buddhist) conclusion is that free will exists, but only for the enlightened.

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I believe, in fact, that that is what they believe. So Buddhists do in fact worship the supernatural, by trying to become it or gain one of its properties.

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The Oxford Handbook of Freewill editted by Kane is a very thorough treatment of the subject from many different perspecitves. It is not the most accessible book, but excellent if you want that level of detail. If you want an easier to digest version that describes compatibilism (free will and determinism are compatible under that account) then read Simon Blackburn's Think. A cautionary note, it seems very likely that compatibilism is untenable, but it is very popular in many philosophical circles. Best of luck in your search.

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A truly useful post. Thank you!