Science and philosophy of free will

Abstract

It is often remarked that mechanistic and deterministic forms of explanation found in modern science have become characteristic of western thought as a whole. Yet the western Enlightenment project has been, and remains, the use of knowledge of nature in order to instruct people to live wisely, in accord with nature. In this paper, the author considers the apparent contradiction in enlightened western thought between free will and determinism. He suggests that we should recognize a long western tradition of understanding rooted in belief in the freedom of human action rather than in the mechanistic operations of nature. Any discussion of contrast between East and West must take account of the western argument and diversity of belief rather than any supposed monolithic western position. This point is illustrated with aspects of the literature on free will (drawing in the examples of Dostoevsky, Nietzsche and Bergson).