I am happy to talk about it with you.Flannel Jesus wrote: ↑Mon Aug 15, 2022 3:54 pm I think she may not be conceptualising freedom in a similar way to you. But that's only a guess. When you get to very abstract concepts like that, it's more than likely that you two are using the same word to refer to extremely different ideas.
It looks to me like Belinda is saying human minds are the result of the behaviour of human brains, and human brains are made of matter that is fundamentally entirely the same as other matter in the universe, and invariably obeys the same laws.
Often people contrast free will with determinism, as if a lack of determinism (and thus imo a presence of randomness) grants a person more freedom somehow. But many people find it useful to flip that idea on its head, and see randomness as the true prison, and determinism the source of freedom. I can go into more detail if you like, but that's the sort of path I think Belinda is implying.
I am convinced that free will does not exist.
The main reason for my belief is ethics.
However, there are other considerations that lead to the conclusion that free will is an illusion.
Among these is the fact that everything that happens is either necessary or accidental.
I consider the term "determined" misleading because it is opposed to the indeterminate. I therefore prefer to use the word "necessity".
So an event is either necessary or it is random.
Free will can therefore only be a manifestation of chance.
Except... randomness doesn't exist.
If it existed, its appearance would consist in the eruption of Chaos into the Cosmos.