CaltechAUTHORS
Published July 2022 | Version Published + Supplemental Material
Journal Article Open

Free will without consciousness?

Creators

  • 1. ROR icon Tel Aviv University
  • 2. ROR icon University of California, Los Angeles
  • 3. ROR icon Chapman University
  • 4. ROR icon California Institute of Technology
  • 5. ROR icon Indiana University Bloomington
  • 6. ROR icon University of California, San Diego
  • 7. ROR icon University of Edinburgh
  • 8. ROR icon Duke University
  • 9. ROR icon Dartmouth College

Abstract

Findings demonstrating decision-related neural activity preceding volitional actions have dominated the discussion about how science can inform the free will debate. These discussions have largely ignored studies suggesting that decisions might be influenced or biased by various unconscious processes. If these effects are indeed real, do they render subjects' decisions less free or even unfree? Here, we argue that, while unconscious influences on decision-making do not threaten the existence of free will in general, they provide important information about limitations on freedom in specific circumstances. We demonstrate that aspects of this long-lasting controversy are empirically testable and provide insight into their bearing on degrees of freedom, laying the groundwork for future scientific-philosophical approaches.

Additional Information

© 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Available online 12 April 2022, Version of Record 14 June 2022. This publication was made possible through the support of a joint grant from the John Templeton Foundation and the Fetzer Institute. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the John Templeton Foundation or the Fetzer Institute. L.M. is CIFAR Tanenbaum Fellow in the Brain, Mind, and Consciousness program. Declaration of interests: None declared by authors.

Attached Files

Published - 1-s2.0-S1364661322000638-main.pdf

Supplemental Material - 1-s2.0-S1364661322000638-mmc1.docx

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Additional details

Identifiers

Eprint ID
114591
Resolver ID
CaltechAUTHORS:20220504-347617000

Funding

John Templeton Foundation
Fetzer Institute
Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR)

Dates

Created
2022-05-04
Created from EPrint's datestamp field
Updated
2022-07-12
Created from EPrint's last_modified field