The Good Fight Kevin Mitchell on Free Will
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May 3, 2025 
Kevin Mitchell, an Associate Professor of Genetics and Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin, dives into the intricate web of free will and evolution. He discusses how our choices might not be entirely independent, emphasizing biological determinism's role in decision-making. The conversation explores how even simple organisms show agency and challenges philosophical views on freedom. Mitchell also critiques the impact of AI on our perception of free will, prompting intriguing questions about morality and accountability in an increasingly automated world.
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Free Will Grounded in Biology
- Biological and evolutionary perspectives provide concrete grounding for the concept of free will.
- Understanding decision-making as a biological process moves beyond abstract philosophical debates.
Determinism and Its Challenge
- Determinism argues all future states are fixed by the laws of physics and initial conditions.
- This denies true choice, making free will an illusion in strict deterministic views.
Trouble with Compatibilism
- Compatibilists hold free will can coexist with determinism through imagined alternative scenarios.
- This approach often feels contrived and fails to explain real choice emergence.
