Wednesday, August 19, 2009

free will and determinism part II

I haven't reached any conclusion about whether free will exists. (Or, rather, whether I think free will exists). But one thing has been tilting me back in favor of free will lately. I was falling asleep and I got a muscle twitch in my leg that woke me up. It was completely involuntary. How did I know? Because I know what it feels like to voluntarily move my leg, and it wasn't that. If free will entails volitional action, and I think it does, then this suggests that some actions are freer than others.

Also, I've noticed that sometimes I get out of bed without ever deciding to get out of bed. The important thing is that this is in contrast with another experience, that of deciding to get out of bed. If free will is an illusion, why is it just an illusion some of the time?