Free will
Benjamin LibetAaron SchurgerDerk Pereboom
This page delivers no verdict; it presents claims and evidence with their sources. No theory in science is absolute. Method
⑂ Divergence of views. Views diverge on this question; each prong on the tree is one position.
For everyone
Do humans really choose their own actions, or are these choices fixed in advance by prior causes, brain processes or divine decree? Philosophers, theologians and neuroscientists give different answers. In a large survey in 2020 most philosophers chose the view that free will is compatible with determinism. In kalām, the Muʿtazila, Ashʿarism and Māturīdism developed different approaches to human acts.
For specialists
Libertarianism holds that free will is incompatible with determinism and that the universe is not deterministic. Compatibilism defines freedom by criteria such as the absence of external compulsion or responsiveness to reasons. Hard incompatibilism argues that neither determinism nor chance leaves room for moral responsibility. In Libet's 1983 experiment a "readiness potential" was measured in the brain hundreds of milliseconds before participants reported becoming aware of deciding to move. What this finding means is debated.
Claims
Evidence
Supporting
In Libet's experiment the readiness potential began on average about 350 milliseconds before the moment participants reported as their decision.[1]
In an fMRI study, the outcome of a simple left–right choice could be predicted above chance from brain activity several seconds before the conscious decision.[2]
Challenging
A model showed that the readiness potential may be not a decision signal but a trace, visible in the average, of the accumulation of random neural fluctuations.[3]
Positions
- Compatibilism
- Freedom is compatible with determinism; a person is free when acting on their own wishes and reasons without external compulsion. In the 2020 PhilPapers survey about 59 percent of philosophers chose this view.[6][4]
- Libertarianism
- Real freedom requires being able to act otherwise under the same conditions, which is incompatible with determinism. About 19 percent of philosophers in the survey chose this view.[5][4]
- Free-will scepticism
- There is no free will of the kind moral responsibility requires. About 11 percent of philosophers in the survey chose this view.[5][4]
- The Muʿtazila
- Humans are the creators of their own acts; divine justice requires that they be free so that they can be held responsible.[7]
- Ashʿarism (kasb)
- God alone creates acts; the human "acquires" (kasb) the created act and is responsible through this acquisition.[7]
- Māturīdism
- God creates acts, but humans are given a real power of choice (partial will) and are responsible because of this choice.[8]
Open questions
- How much does the timing of a conscious decision relative to brain activity matter for the debate on responsibility and freedom?
Connections
Sources
- Article (1983). Time of conscious intention to act in relation to onset of cerebral activity (readiness-potential). Brain 106(3), 623–642DOI 10.1093/brain/106.3.623archive
- Article (2008). Unconscious determinants of free decisions in the human brain. Nature Neuroscience 11, 543–545DOI 10.1038/nn.2112archive
- Article (2012). An accumulator model for spontaneous neural activity prior to self-initiated movement. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109(42), E2904–E2913DOI 10.1073/pnas.1210467109archive
- Article (2023). Philosophers on Philosophy: The 2020 PhilPapers Survey. Philosophers' Imprint 23(11)DOI 10.3998/phimp.2109archive
- EncyclopediaFree Will. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophyplato.stanford.eduarchive
- EncyclopediaCompatibilism. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophyplato.stanford.eduarchive
- Book (1948). Free Will and Predestination in Early Islam. Luzac, London
- Book (2015). Al-Māturīdī and the Development of Sunnī Theology in Samarqand. Brill, Leiden
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Cite this page
Athena contributors. (2026). Free will. Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Retrieved November 1, 2026, from https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/ozgur-irade/
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title = {Free will},
author = {{Athena contributors}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/ozgur-irade/}},
note = {Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Accessed: 2026-11-01}
}Added: September 28, 2026 · Last changed: September 28, 2026 · Page history