free will

This interesting paradox springs from merely two premises that, in my view, nearly all Christians hold to be valid. Premise One: God is omnipotent; that is, God is all-powerful (a being than which no more powerful can be conceived). Premise Two: Sin accurately can be defined as “acts which...

Free Will Is this fair? I do try to be fair, but being fair about deep ontological questions may be beyond me. I submit this to the scrutiny of my peers. Please point out the usual typos and grammatical errors as well.

I was catching up on old episodes of The Skeptics Guide to the Universe on my flight back home from TAM 5 and listening to the Tom W. Clark interview in episode #20 raised my philosophical ire. I hate it when naturalists so whole heartedly and easily abandon free will to the spiritualists and...

For the purposes of the poll; Compatibilist = one who believes free will and determinism are compatible Incompatibilist = one who believes that free will and determinism are not compatible Libertarian incompatibilist = one who believes that at least some persons have free will and that...

www.dilbertblog.typepad.com There have been several posts in the last few days about the concept of free will. The writer, Scott Adams (does Dilbert cartoons) does not believe in it and has actually classified it in paranormal. The current fight started when he basically said, 'It is not the...

A thread in the Science section got sidetracked to the question of true free will. It was suggested that we continue that topic here. I hope Piggy will regale us with his ideas about "true" or "genuine" free will, which is called libertarian free will in the philosophy biz. ~~ Paul

If Psychics can see the future... Does that mean we have, at the best, limited free will? It's much like the Omniscient being freewill argument, except a little less grand. If a psychic can see the future and knows that in a weeks time I'm going to be fired, does that not impact on the free...

From this thread Well, look at it this way, if things change, the rules have to already be set in place that allow them to do so. And what else could that possibly mean, except that the rules have always been set in place? Which is to say, everything was scripted beforehand and, that nothing...

If I understand Christian doctrine correctly, God endows man with free will, and then holds him accountable for his choices. But if God is All-Powerful, surely He is able to foresee the choices everyone will make. If He's able to do that, then He knows every choice that each individual will...

Here is the classic determinist argument: (1) The laws of physics dictate how matter behaves. (2) Therefore, the present doesn't branch out into a multitude of possible futures. There is only one possible future and nothing that you do is your choice. Question 1(a): According to the laws of...

Determinism vs. Free Will is an old philosophical debate. I am hoping to find any fresh perspective or insight on this issue. I believe that an adequate definition of free will means simply that we have the ability to choose at any given moment. I also believe that each choice is made by a...

You know, I'm all for free will, but...there are a few points that I can't work around. 1. According to most educated people, adult behavior is a mixture of nature and nurture (genetics and experiences). 2. Since everything is affected by everything else, concious behavior would just be...