Lezing 'A free will skeptic view on human behavior'

Free will skepticism does not claim that we “couldn’t help it,” or that psychology plays no role in our actions. Nor does it suggest that our successes have nothing to do with ourselves. On the contrary, our personality, thoughts, and beliefs are crucial.

Yet the causal chain does not end there. Where do these traits come from? And do we truly control the many factors that shape us? Our choices and actions arise from a complex interplay of biological, psychological, and social determinants — of nature and nurture. Neither our genetic endowment nor our neurobiological constitution is under our direct control, nor are the circumstances into which we happen to be born. The laws of nature themselves remain entirely beyond human control.

Under such conditions, can we meaningfully continue to speak of free will? And if the existence of free will is indeed unlikely, what implications follow for the organization of both personal and societal life?