Free will in the brain<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"picture: Can brain science explain free will? Credit: \u00a9 Images.com\/CorbisIs free will an illusion? Classical science, built on a foundation of observable\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2007\/10\/free-will-in-brain.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Free will in the brain\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"picture: Can brain science explain free will? Credit: \u00a9 Images.com\/CorbisIs free will an illusion? Classical science, built on a foundation of observable\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2007\/10\/free-will-in-brain.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Epiphenom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-10-05T20:14:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-11-14T05:01:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_gLv0n3B4neg\/Rwc7-jMbXiI\/AAAAAAAABfM\/OhrI4To_QcY\/s400\/r_HallettMcHughOpener_spot.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Epiphenom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Epiphenom\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2007\/10\/free-will-in-brain.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2007\/10\/free-will-in-brain.html\",\"name\":\"Free will in the brain\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2007-10-05T20:14:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-11-14T05:01:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#\/schema\/person\/98b4bf21daa886d9eb1d5f0e99643ad1\"},\"description\":\"picture: Can brain science explain free will? Credit: \u00a9 Images.com\/CorbisIs free will an illusion? Classical science, built on a foundation of observable\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2007\/10\/free-will-in-brain.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2007\/10\/free-will-in-brain.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2007\/10\/free-will-in-brain.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Free will in the brain\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/\",\"name\":\"Epiphenom\",\"description\":\"The science of religion and non-belief\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#\/schema\/person\/98b4bf21daa886d9eb1d5f0e99643ad1\",\"name\":\"Epiphenom\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a9abb71dca9f11ec59b77b1fffa487fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a9abb71dca9f11ec59b77b1fffa487fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Epiphenom\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/author\/trees\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Free will in the brain","description":"picture: Can brain science explain free will? Credit: \u00a9 Images.com\/CorbisIs free will an illusion? Classical science, built on a foundation of observable","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2007\/10\/free-will-in-brain.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Free will in the brain","og_description":"picture: Can brain science explain free will? Credit: \u00a9 Images.com\/CorbisIs free will an illusion? Classical science, built on a foundation of observable","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2007\/10\/free-will-in-brain.html","og_site_name":"Epiphenom","article_published_time":"2007-10-05T20:14:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-11-14T05:01:04+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_gLv0n3B4neg\/Rwc7-jMbXiI\/AAAAAAAABfM\/OhrI4To_QcY\/s400\/r_HallettMcHughOpener_spot.jpg"}],"author":"Epiphenom","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Epiphenom","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2007\/10\/free-will-in-brain.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2007\/10\/free-will-in-brain.html","name":"Free will in the brain","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#website"},"datePublished":"2007-10-05T20:14:00+00:00","dateModified":"2014-11-14T05:01:04+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#\/schema\/person\/98b4bf21daa886d9eb1d5f0e99643ad1"},"description":"picture: Can brain science explain free will? Credit: \u00a9 Images.com\/CorbisIs free will an illusion? Classical science, built on a foundation of observable","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2007\/10\/free-will-in-brain.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2007\/10\/free-will-in-brain.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2007\/10\/free-will-in-brain.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Free will in the brain"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/","name":"Epiphenom","description":"The science of religion and non-belief","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#\/schema\/person\/98b4bf21daa886d9eb1d5f0e99643ad1","name":"Epiphenom","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a9abb71dca9f11ec59b77b1fffa487fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a9abb71dca9f11ec59b77b1fffa487fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Epiphenom"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/author\/trees"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2091"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":652,"date":"2007-10-05T21:14:00","date_gmt":"2007-10-05T20:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2007\/10\/free-will-in-the-brain.html"},"modified":"2014-11-14T06:01:04","modified_gmt":"2014-11-14T05:01:04","slug":"free-will-in-brain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2007\/10\/free-will-in-brain.html","title":{"rendered":"Free will in the brain"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a>picture: Can brain science explain free will? Credit: \u00a9 Images.com\/Corbis<\/span><\/p>\n

Is free will an illusion? Classical science, built on a foundation of observable cause and effect, seems to leave little room for free will, as classically defined. Arguably, quantum mechanics provides a route out of this dilemma, by allowing the potential for \u2018uncaused cause\u2019. But what kind of free will could follow from the inherent randomness of quantum theory? Daniel C Dennet, in his 2002 book \u201cFreedom Evolves\u201d, put forward a persuasive argument that there is no inherent incompatibility between free will and determinism \u2013 at least for the kind of free will that really matter.<\/p>\n

In September this year, the DANA foundation<\/a> hosted a debate on the existence of free will between Mark Hallet, a neurologist at the US National Institutes of Health, and Paul McHugh, a psychiatrist at <\/span>at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. As might have been expected, the neurologist argued for the non-existence of free will, whereas the psychiatrist insisted otherwise. Some interesting points were made in the debate and rebuttal \u2013 but perhaps the most telling observation is that the two debaters built their cases from fundamentally different starting points, with no apparent meeting of minds. Perhaps this reflects a deeper problem \u2013 perhaps the definition of free will is simply too fuzzy for any consensus to develop.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"