Freedom and Fate

Jan 27, 2026

Guest

Lucy Allais

Lucy Allais, philosopher of agency and Kantian themes; Robert Sapolsky, neuroscientist and determinism advocate; Paul Bloom, psychologist studying morality and cognition. They debate whether freedom can fit with scientific materialism. They contrast hard determinism, higher-level agency, and psychological compatibilism. They also discuss blame, punishment, and how agency looks in edge cases like addiction.

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INSIGHT

Innate Dualism And Compatibilist Move

Children intuitively separate material bodies from immaterial minds, often assuming souls and free will.
Paul Bloom argues materialism and determinism can coexist with meaningful intentional choice.

INSIGHT

The Layered Causation Of Behavior

Robert Sapolsky presents human behavior as the product of layered causes from neurons to evolution.
He argues no explanatory 'crack' exists where genuine free will can be shoehorned in.

INSIGHT

Rejecting Physics-Only Explanations

Lucy Allais rejects equating naturalism with reductive materialism and physics-only explanation.
She emphasizes legitimate higher-level, whole-part explanations for living, self-organizing agents.

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An individual "is responsible for everything he does," claimed Sartre. And from criminal justice to creative expression, free will and responsibility are central to our culture and our personal lives. Yet neuroscientists and materialist thinkers commonly maintain that freedom is an illusion. And it remains unknown how the core principles of freedom and responsibility can be reconciled with this outlook. Many attempts have been made to argue that the two seemingly contradictory frameworks can be made compatible. But critics say these "compatibilist" arguments are unconvincing and are driven merely by the attempt to make scientific materialism acceptable. Furthermore, whilst surveys suggest most materialist philosophers believe we can reconcile the two, the majority of us reject the idea that an action can be both determined and free.

Paul Bloom is a Canadian-American psychologist, bestselling author, and celebrated speaker. He is Professor Emeritus at Yale and a professor at the University of Toronto. Bloom’s work explores human nature, morality, and pleasure.

Joining us from California is Robert Sapolsky. Sapolsky is a distinguished neuroscientist, primatologist, and author, best known for his research on stress and its impact on behaviour and health. He is also a professor at Stanford University.

Lucy Allais is a philosopher at Johns Hopkins University and the University of the Witwatersrand, renowned for her work on Immanuel Kant. Her writing spans ethics, metaphysics, and political philosophy.

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