Neurons and genetics cannot explain away the existence of free will, according to Julian Baggini.
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When philosopher Julian Baggini – author of more than a dozen books, including Atheism: A Very Short Introduction and Freedom Regained: The Possibility of Free Will – hears someone talking about free will, they’re usually talking about why humans don’t have it. This doesn’t sit well with him.
“They think it’s the view of intelligent informed opinion, that there’s some sense in which science has shown that we definitely don’t have free will,” he says. “So it’s ceased being a matter of philosophical speculation and it’s become a matter of empirical, scientific fact.”
In this episode of Life & Faith, Baggini takes back the reins on the free will debate and guides us through his thoughts on this question of whether we have free will, and what true freedom might look like.
“Freedom isn’t about the ability to just choose anything you want, it’s actually the capacity for your actions to flow from your best nature.”
