Exploring the Concept of Agency and Free Will

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This chapter delves into the concept of agency and free will, discussing how our values and preferences are shaped by external influences. It questions the origins of differing values and whether we have control over them. The chapter also explores the implications of free will on decision-making and social interactions.

Yascha Mounk and Robert Sapolsky debate whether there is free will and if it would matter if there weren't.

Robert Sapolsky, a neuroscientist and primatologist, is the John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn Professor and professor of biology, neurology and neurosurgery at Stanford University. Sapolsky is the author of Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst. His latest book is Determined: A Science of Life without Free Will.

In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Robert Sapolsky discuss whether, as Sapolsky argues, there is no such thing as free will; and what follows for everything from criminal law to the possibility of love and friendship if we were to agree that it doesn't.

This transcript has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.

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