Is There a Threat That Free Will Doesn't Exist?

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Scholeran vas tried to test the idea that there is no such thing as free will with a study of cheating behavior. Students who are paid for solving math problems but don't have any, often fudge the truth and over report how many they solved. In situations where you might exert your will in order to do the right thing, you may just be less likely to do so,. because you don't feel as sort of motivated.

Tamler and David discuss whether giving up our belief in free will makes us more likely to abandon our moral standards.

Links

“You Can’t Handle the Truth!”

Jesse Bering “Scientists say free will probably doesn’t exist, but urge: “Don’t stop believing!” Excellent accessible description of the Vohs and Schooler study that we discuss.

Tamler’s blog post in Psychology Today criticizing the pessimistic views of Smilansky and Vohs and Schooler: "No Soul? I can live with that. No free will? Aaahhhh!".

“Eat the poo-poo.” “Like ice cream…”

Josh Knobe on free will and experimental philosophy.

Tamler's dialogue on some of the problems with current experimental work on free will: "Free Will and Experimental Philosophy: An Intervention."

“I want him dead! I want his family dead!”

Uhlmann, Zhu, Pizarro & Bloom “Blood is Thicker: Moral Spillover Effects Based on Kinship”

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