If the Mind is this…

If the Mind is this… …Can we have Free Will? Eddy Nahmias (Philosophy) Neurophilosophy Meeting: March 20, 2007

Laying my cards on the table • I am a physicalist: In some sense of “is” I believe the mind is the brain. • I believe normal adult humans have (at least some) free will and we are morally responsible for at least some of our actions. • I believe neuroscience and the other sciences of the mind are highly relevant to the question of whether we have free will … and how much free will we have. • But, I do not think these sciences are relevant for the reasons many scientists seem to think. In fact, I think that they tend to get the issues confused…

Scientists suggest Free Will is an Illusion • Francis Crick (1996): “Your sense of personal identity and free will are in fact no more than the behavior of a vast assembly of nerve cells and their associated molecules.… You’re nothing but a pack of neurons.”

Scientists sayFree Will is an Illusion • Daniel Wegner (2002): • “The fact is, it seems to each of us that we have conscious will. It seems we have selves. It seems we have minds. It seems we are agents. It seems we cause what we do…. It is sobering and ultimately accurate to call all this an illusion.” • “The brain started first, followed by the experience of conscious will, and finally followed by action.”

Media spins it for all it’s worth • Rosen in NYTimes “The Brain on the Stand” (3/11/07): “And since all behavior is caused by our brains, wouldn’t this mean all behavior could potentially beexcused.” • The Economist (5/23/02): “Potential dystopias always make good press…. Genetics may yet threatenprivacy, kill autonomy, make societyhomogenousandgut the concept of humannature. But neuroscience could do all of these things first.” • Tom Wolfe in Forbes Magazine (12/2/96): “the bottom line of neuroscience … is that, let’s not kid ourselves, we’re all concatenations of molecules containing DNA, hard wired into a chemical analogue computer known as the human brain, which as software has a certain genetic code. And your idea that you have a soul or even a self, much less free will, is just an illusion.”

The Problem • Both (some) scientists and science popularizers rely on implicit arguments that misconstrue the relation between neurobiological discovery and free will.

Argument 1: Conflating Determinism and Reductionism • Determinism means we have no free will. • Science is showing determinism is true. Therefore, 3) Science is showing we have no free will. Many philosophers (like me) deny this claim (and many folk agree!) No, physics suggests indeterminism is true.

Determinism and the “Horizontal Threat” to Free Will Long causal history, governed by laws of nature Events you seem to control that cause your decision Past events over which you have no control Your decision Determinism = Every event is completely caused by prior events, such that given that set of prior causes (and the laws of nature), the event will definitely occur. Important distinction: determinism≠ reductionism.

80.00 60.00 % agree 40.00 71.21 53.03 20.00 38.89 27.78 0.00 Neuro Case Psych Case Folk Intuitions about Determinism, Reductionism, Free Will, Moral Responsibility free will Percentage of participant responses indicating agreement (somewhat agree, agree, or strongly agree) to the questions: “Ertans are able to make decisions of their own free will” (blue bars); “Ertans should be held morally responsible for their decisions” (green bars). responsibility

6.00 free will responsibility 5.00 4.00 Mean 3.00 4.27 3.70 3.37 2.00 2.78 1.00 Neuro Case Psych Case Folk Intuitions about Determinism, Reductionism, Free Will, Moral Responsibility A significant difference was found when comparing mean responses between the Psych and Neuro cases: Free Will: t(100)=3.29, p=.001 Moral Responsibility: t(100)=3.33, p=.001 ** Graphs and Stats by Trevor Kvaran (B&B Fellow, Philosophy)

Determinism is less scary than Reductionism

Argument 2: Conflating Free Will with Cartesian Dualism • Free will requires that we have non-physical (Cartesian) minds that operate free from the bounds of physical laws. • Science is proving that our behavior is governed by physical laws. Therefore, 3) Science is proving that we do not have free will. Why believe this? True that! But this is not new news.

The “Vertical Threat” Take 1 • Our decisions and actions are entirely caused by physical events (most proximately, neurobiological events), leaving no role for the soul (or the conscious will). • Notice: This physicalist thesis is distinct from the “horizontal threat” of determinism. Emergent non-physical states of conscious mind Illusory cause Physical Causes Brain Processes Producing Behavior Behavior

If minds = brains, how can mental states cause anything? • Last 50 years of philosophy of mind has offered various theories to explain the metaphysical relationship between mindandbrain: • Mind equal to brain (identity theory) • Mind supervening on brain (supervenience theory) • Mind realized by brain (functionalism) • Mind emerging from brain (emergentism) • Bottom line: The fact that high-level properties are identical to/supervene upon/realized by ... low-level properties need not “drain away” the existence of—or the causal powers of—the high-level properties.

This table is composed of (realized by) quarks (or whatever). The way the quarks are arranged explain the shape and solidity of the table. The shape and solidity of the table (partially) explain why I am not falling. So, do the “high-level” properties of shape and solidity cause me not to fall (or is it just the quarks that cause it)? My mind is composed of (realized by) neural processes (or whatever). The neural processes explain the (conscious) mental states I am in. The (conscious) mental states I am in (partially) explain why I do what I do. So, do my mental states cause me to do what I do (or is it just the neural processes that cause behavior)? If you answer “neural states,” watch out for the quarks! An (overly simple) analogy

Argument 3: The Real Threat • Free will requires that our actions are governed by our conscious deliberations and plans in accord with reasons we have accepted or would accept. • Science is showing that our actions are not governed by this sort of rational self-control. Therefore, 3) Science is showing we do not have free will. Indeed! Notice this view is consistent with determinism. Perhaps. To the extent it is, that is threat to free will.

The Vertical Threat Take 2 • “Modular Epiphenomenalism”: The brain processes involved in conscious and rational self-control are not involved in most of our decisions and actions—rather they just create post-hoc rationalizations for what we do … Brain Processes involved in Conscious Deliberation/Intentions Illusory cause Physical Causes Brain Processes Producing Behavior Behavior

The Unimportance of Consciousness? • David Brooks (NYTimes 9/17/06): “Consciousness has come to be seen as this relatively weak driver, riding atop an organ, the brain, it scarcely understands.” • Stephen Morse (in “The Brain on the Stand”): “Suppose neuroscience could reveal that reason actually plays no role in determining human behavior … that your intentions and your reasons are post hoc rationalizations that your brain generates to explain to you what your brain has already done” without your conscious participation…. [then] criminal law would have to abandon its current ideas about responsibility. • Roger Schank (www.edge.org, 1/5/05): “When people try to rationally analyze potential options, their unconscious, emotional thoughts take over and make the choice for them…. Decisions are made for us by our unconscious, the conscious [mind] is in charge of making up reasons for those decisions which sound rational.”

A Possible Reconciliation? • As long as the relevant conscious mental states are explained rather than explained away by neuroscience (and other sciences of the mind), then free will (the self, morality, etc.) should not been seen as an illusion. BUT… • The sciences of the mind are discovering and will inevitably discover certain limitations to the capacities relevant to free will (e.g., the degree to which our conscious deliberations influence our decisions, to which we act on reasons we have accepted or would accept, etc.)…

S o, if mind = …can we have Free Will? • Yes, I think, but it depends on… • How people understand themselves, free will, responsibility, morality, etc. • What philosophy has to say about the mind-body relationship, causation, free will, responsibility, morality, etc. • What the sciences of the mind have to say about the way the brain (and our psychology) works.

Libet on the Illusion of Conscious Will • Subjects asked to flex wrist whenever the feel like it and to notice the time they are conscious of “urge or intention” to flex (W) • Readiness Potential (RP) regularly precedes conscious awareness (W) by about 400ms -550 ms -150 ms 0 ms RP onset time W muscle moves • “The brain ‘decides’ to initiate action …before there is any reportable subjective awareness that such a decision has taken place.”

Problems with Libet • Desires (urges) vs. Intentions (or decisions) -550 ms -150 ms 0 ms RP onset time W muscle moves (urge formed) (intention formed) (action) • Proximate vs. Distal Intentions (planning) • Libet’s task asks subjects to form distal intentions to flex in response to spontaneously, unconsciously formed urges to flex

Neuro Case Directions: You’re going to read a story about another world called Erta that is very similar to our world. As you are reading it and answering the questions about it, think of it just as you would any other story you read. Even if you don’t think that what it says is true in our world, imagine that it is true in Erta. On Erta, the landscape and life are very similar to Earth, and there are advanced life forms called Ertans who look, talk, and behave very much like we do. For instance, the Ertans have families, schools, various jobs, parties, arguments, etc. However, the Ertans’ science has advanced far beyond ours. Specifically, Ertan neuroscientists have discovered exactly how Ertans’ brains work. For instance, they have discovered that whenever an Ertan is trying to decide what to do, the decision the Ertan ends up making is completely caused by the specific chemical reactions and neural processes occurring in his or her brain. The neuroscientists have also discovered that these chemical reactions and neural processes are completely caused by the Ertan’s current situation and the earlier events in his or her life. These earlier events were also completely caused by even earlier events, eventually going all the way back to events that occurred before the Ertan was born. So, once specific earlier events have occurred in an Ertan’s life, these events will definitely cause specific later events to occur. For instance, once specific chemical reactions and neural processes occur in the Ertan’s brain, they will definitely cause the Ertan to make the specific decision he or she makes.

Psych Case (differences underlined) Directions: You’re going to read a story about another world called Erta that is very similar to our world. As you are reading it and answering the questions about it, think of it just as you would any other story you read. Even if you don’t think that what it says is true in our world, imagine that it is true in Erta. On Erta, the landscape and life are very similar to Earth, and there are advanced life forms called Ertans who look, talk, and behave very much like we do. For instance, the Ertans have families, schools, various jobs, parties, arguments, etc. However, the Ertans’ science has advanced far beyond ours. Specifically, Ertan psychologists have discovered exactly how Ertans’ minds work. For instance, they have discovered that whenever an Ertan is trying to decide what to do, the decision the Ertan ends up making is completely caused by the specific thoughts, desires, and plans occurring in his or her mind. The psychologists have also discovered that these thoughts, desires, and plans are completely caused by the Ertan’s current situation and the earlier events in his or her life. These earlier events were also completely caused by even earlier events, eventually going all the way back to events that occurred before the Ertan was born. So, once specific earlier events have occurred in an Ertan’s life, these events will definitely cause specific later events to occur. For instance, once specific thoughts, desires, and plans occur in the Ertan’s mind, they will definitely cause the Ertan to make the specific decision he or she makes.

Questions for Participants 1) According to the story, is this statement true or false? The specific thoughts, desires, and plans occurring in an Ertan’s mind at a particular time are completely caused by the Ertan’s current situation and earlier events in the Ertan’s life, and these events were completely caused by even earlier events, eventually going back to events that occurred before the Ertan was born. Based on the story you’ve just read, please write “True” or “False” next to the following statements to indicate whether you agree or disagree with them: 2) Ertans’ decisions are up to them. 3) Ertans deliberate about what to do. 4) Ertans are able to make decisions of their own free will. 5) Ertans should be held morally responsible for their decisions. 6) If an Ertan does something bad, then he or she deserves to be blamed for it. 7) If an Ertan does something good, then he or she deserves to be praised for it. 8) Ertans are able to lead meaningful lives. 9) Suppose an Ertan named Yon is trying to decide which restaurant to go to for dinner. According to the story, is this statement true or false: Once specific thoughts, desires, and plans occur in Yon’s mind at a particular time, then there is only one decision Yon can make about which restaurant to go to for dinner.

If the Mind is this…