Do you choose not to have a position?  Have you been programmed, trained or conditioned into making that response?

SUGGESTED READINGS:

WIKIPEDIA: Freedom

WIKIPEDIA: Free Will

 STANFORD ENCYCLOPEDIA of PHILOSOPHY 

Free Will

Incompatibilism arguments

incompatabilism theories

INTERNET ENCYCLOPEDIA of PHILOSOPHY

Many Worlds Of Logic on free will : 

VIDEOS:

Sam Harris on Free Will 1:18:52

Do We Have Free Will or Is Everything Predetermined?  5:23

How to Dissolve the Problem of Free Will and Determinism 1:00:10 

AFTERWARD:

This is the offer that was made to all in this class in the discussion board for the module on Freedom vs Determinism

FREE POINTS  REALLY!!!! 

I shall give the grade of a full points for this module on Freedom for any student who hits "respond" to this posting and posts the following two sentences with the student’s own name inserted in position:

I am .........(put your name here).

I am not free because I am determined.

This is good for any student.  You will not need to submit any written assignment for module seven  you will receive full credit for this module and need do no other work.

You can go on believing whatever you have been programmed to believe but as long as you respond and post those two sentences you will have the points.

You can go on and post additional items attempting to prove that you are free or have free will but the evidence will indicate otherwise and it will indicate that evidence in support of a empirical claim about the existence of a physical capacity does not matter as you are predisposed to rejecting evidence that counts against your beliefs.

 In a class now with 25 still participating, 22 people responded admitting that they are not really free and offering the proof to support that claim.

7 people submitted a written assignment including   5 who already admitted that they were not free and took the free points.

In the written assignments of the those who did not take the free points 3 claimed that they had free will but 2 took the compatibilism position that does not claim people have free will only that we will act as if people do have free will so that we can hold people accountable and responsible for their actions.

So of 25 people in the class 22 declared that did not have free will and 2 took the position of compatibilism, but 3 of those who declared they did not have free will then submitted a written assignment claiming that they did have it..

It is an empirical matter whether or not human beings (physical beings) have the mental capacity and ability (a physical activity) to make decisions using free will undetermined by any prior activities, experiences, conditioning, training, held values, purposes, goals and aims.

In a college class wherein people in that class are motivated to earn good grades the offer of easy high grades influences or causes or determines a certain behavior that is set out by the organizer of the class activities (instructor)  utilizing the goals, aims, purposes and values of students to cause or determine the desired behavior (posting the claims that

I am .........(put your name here).

I am not free because I am determined.

CONSIDER:

For those who would use the Correspondence Theory or the Scientific approach to TRUTH of empirical (physical) claims that there is this PHYSICAL EVIDENCE in the offer of the FREE POINTS

1.      that people will claim positions based on their prior beliefs that make them feel good even in the face of evidence that counts against it.  COGNITIVE DISSONANCE it is termed by scientists who study such mental behavior.

2.      that people when presented with evidence and alternative positions on issues for which they have held a position for many years may THINK it through and actually take a more nuanced position that accepts the physical evidence which causes them to revise their beliefs.