Free Will

In fact, it seems immoral not to recognize just how much luck is involved in morality itself.

There is no question that (most, if not all) mental events are the product of physical events. The brain is a physical system, entirely beholden to the laws of nature—and there is every reason to believe that changes in its functional state and material structure entirely dictate our thoughts and actions.

obtuse.

the subjective experience of being a conscious agent—for a conceptual understanding of ourselves as persons.

Becoming sensitive to the background causes of one’s thoughts and feelings can—paradoxically—allow for greater creative control over one’s

How can we make sense of our lives, and hold people accountable for their choices, given the unconscious origins of our conscious minds?

The freedom to do what one intends, and not to do otherwise, is no less valuable than it ever was.

We are deeply disposed to perceive people as the authors of their actions, to hold them responsible for the wrongs they do us, and to feel that these transgressions must be punished.

I, as the conscious witness of my experience,