Do you have Free Will?

Part 1 - Setting the Stage

Setting the Stage

The question about the reality of Free Will has been in the philosophical sphere for centuries. Recently, this topic has gained traction as the scientific data seems to point to an increasingly large level of Determinism in our decision making¹. This has caused many Philosophers, Neuroscientists², and Psychologists to adopt a Deterministic worldview. But is this a plausible conclusion? Is there still reason to believe in Free Will, or has it been verifiably proven that we live in a Deterministic universe? Before we begin, let’s define terms.

What is Determinism? Britannica defines Determinism as the view that “all events in the universe, including human actions, are causally inevitable and cannot be otherwise”. In other words, there is no Free Will, no matter which way you slice the thought pattern pie. Everything we want to do is simply a combination of environmental / genetic / experiential causes. No matter how you define Free Will, it would be a sleight of hand or an illusion. Regardless, since Free Will is a legitimate philosophical viewpoint as well, it’s important to define what Free Will is. I will use a colloquial definition for now.

Free will, as best as I can understand how the average person thinks of it, is “the ability to have acted differently than one had in a certain situation if we were to wind back the clock to that exact moment.”

Not so Fast

What people (definitely me at least) get stuck on is the “Free” vs “Determined” part of this discussion. We often forget that the matter being discussed is the Will³. Namely, is the Will a physical construct subject to the laws of cause and effect (the Determinist view) or not (the libertarian [aka complete Free Will] view)? There is of course the Compatibilist who claims that while the Will is heavily influenced by the laws of causation (Determinism), as long as the choice being made is not forced by external forces (gun to the head / insanity), it is considered Free.

Batman vs Joker

A Case for Determinism

When one thinks of Batman’s⁴ ultimate foe, I would wager that 98% of people would say it is the Joker⁵. There is a good reason for this. Throughout almost every rendition of the Joker in a Batman show or movie that I have seen⁶, the Joker always views himself and Batman as “two sides of the same coin.” Batman is always (in Joker’s mind and perhaps even to the audience’s) “one bad day away” from turning into a Joker as competent in insanity as the clown prince of crime himself. Why is this and what does this have to do with Free Will or Determinism? To answer this, I would like to point to a scene from the 2004 animated “The Batman” series⁷. In this scene, Batman is (literally) entering the mind of Joker to glean information on the whereabouts of a hostage. Joker’s mind, while toying with Batman inside of it, tells Batman that

“Your need to rescue is so dominant, Batman... that failure is bound to make you cuckoo.”

This scene⁸ is paradigmatic of the Joker’s hold on Batman. We know Batman as someone Determined to fight for justice. He cannot and will not help it. In fact, when we think of Batman’s choice, we most likely think about the initial choice he made to become a formidable force of justice after the tragic murder of his parents. But are we prepared to say that Batman makes a choice every time he fights Joker? I think most of us have an intuition that on some level Batman cannot help it. He MUST fight. He MUST rescue. He MUST react.

You may (rightfully) suggest that while Batman MUST fight injustice, that does not leave him bereft of choice. What about the choice to become a force against injustice instead of partying with all of the money left behind or purposelessly brooding? And most importantly, on some plane, what about the fact that Batman is a character in a story and not a real person⁹? Of course, given all of this, we cannot view Batman as the rebuttal to Free Will. This was not ultimately the goal, rather the goal was to use Batman as an analogy. There are surely people we know who are so driven toward certain goals that those goals are who they are, in essence. They do not need to make a choice to achieve those goals. They see the obstacles and they just overcome them. There is no giving up - it is their calling. It can be the effect which is caused by some combination of experience /environment / genetic makeup and what have you. But it would be difficult to call it a choice. However, keep in mind that I have not anywhere suggested that our Will was compromised from this perspective, just that it may not be as Free as we think.

You may find this a tad more reasonable but still want to say that even if they are driven for that calling, they had to make a choice at one point to pursue their path. They were not pre-DETERMINED to pursue that path. This is where it gets tricky, but I am glad we made it this far. It is always good to narrow down a topic which is usually spoken about with broad strokes.

A Brief Detour - Can the Torah Even Allow for DETERMINISM?

I believe we now have enough of an appreciation that not everything we do need be viewed as an act of Free Will. However, if you are an Orthodox Jew (or really anyone who believes in Divine Justice / Objective Morality to some extent), you may be tempted to throw any case for Determinism out the window on the concept of Justice alone. As an Orthodox Jew especially, there is a verse from Devarim (Deuteronomy 30:19) which calls to mind almost immediately,

I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day: I have put before you life and death, blessing and curse. CHOOSE LIFE—if you and your offspring would live - by loving your God, heeding God’s commands, and holding fast to [God].”

The above verse seems to clearly advocate for the existence of Libertarian Free Will - that we are truly creatures of choice. No Jewish thinker can do away with this verse. But, if you know Jews, we always find a way to question the face value of what we see. Simply for the effect of keeping you from throwing out a case for Determinism, let me draw your attention to an equally interesting set of quotes from the Talmud;

Says Reish Lakish - A man only sins if a spirit of insanity enters him (Sotah 3B)

Says Rabbi Chanina - Everything is in the hands of Heaven, save for the Awe of Heaven (Berakhot 33B)

Now of course, none of these verses advocate pure Determinism. But they do not advocate for autonomous Free Will either. In fact, the latter quote from Berakhot is so prevalent in the work of Jewish sages that it is almost a given assumption of the Jewish worldview. Almost.

Back to Business - Are our Actions Determined?

Machlokes (it’s a debate)¹⁰.

Stay tuned for the next installment, where we delve into the views of some classic Biblical commentators.

1. Research the experiments performed by Chun Siong Soon and by Libet. Though the experiments of Libet have certainly had far more criticisms. I am not wholly convinced of Determinism from any neurobiological study that has come to light. They extrapolate from highly controlled environments and conditions to real life - which is in my view a bit of a leap. I think logic and philosophy make better cases for Determinism.

2. See an episode of the “Making Sense Podcast” by Sam Harris here and a video by “Rationality Rules” YouTube channel here for cases for Determinism from neuroscience.

3. Thank you to Youtube Channel “Unsolicited Advice” for pointing this out in his video on Free Will. Check it out here.

4. I pray you don’t find the world of comic book heroes so off putting that the mention of them makes a topic less worth considering in your mind. We have much to learn from Fiction - it is often a better voice for the Truth that matters.

5. Of course, this figure is probably slightly lower after the Dark Knight Trilogy since Christopher Nolan did such a great job with the villains there. I recommend watching them if you have not already.

6. Even in the Lego Batman movie!

7. I claim no ownership rights to this scene.

8. https://subslikescript.com/series/The_Batman-398417/season-2/episode-12-Strange_Minds

9. There is a Jewish thinker we will discuss in an upcoming essay known as the Ishbitza, who essentially would make little difference of the plight of Batman and our own when it comes to Free Will. A truly fascinating perspective.

10. If you are a Jew, you know this is always the answer.