Philosophy For Our Times Is free will an illusion? The chemistry of freedom | Patrick Haggard, George Ellis, Jennifer Hornsby
Aug 12, 2025
Join neuroscientist Patrick Haggard, philosopher Jennifer Hornsby, and physicist George Ellis as they tackle the age-old question: is free will just an illusion? Haggard dives into the neuroscience behind voluntary action, questioning how our brains initiate choices. Ellis brings in a cosmological perspective, while Hornsby challenges conventional views of moral responsibility. They explore how cultural influences shape our decisions and examine the implications of free will—or lack thereof—on society. A thought-provoking discussion that will make you rethink your own choices!
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Reverse-Engineering Actions
- Neuroscience seeks the mechanistic origins of actions by studying the brain.
- Reverse engineering traces events from supplementary motor areas to muscles to explain behavior.
Actions Are Contextual Loops
- Actions arise from recurrent activity and contextual influences, not a single 'little man'.
- The brain's flexible, distributed networks allow many context-sensitive reasons for the same movement.
Mind As Software In Hardware Brain
- George Ellis likens mind to software that directs brain hardware across levels.
- Top-down algorithms and abstract intentions causally shape lower-level neuronal activity.
