Seeking Free Will

The issue of free will has always hold a center place throughout the history of western philosophy, and is one of the most controversial issues about contemporary western philosophy. Free will stems from our two beliefs, which seem reasonable but incompatible: the world (at least the macroscopic world) is governed by the causality principle (causal determinism); we have free will sometimes at least. The question is:if all things in the world are governed by the causality principle, how could we have free will? Determinism or incompatiblism argues that causal determinism and free will are incompatible, and we have no free will. On the other hand, compatiblism claims they both are compatible so that we have free will. This paper is to explore the issue of free will from the angle of compatiblism theory, trying to explain that even the world dominated by the causality principle, we can still have free will.Western compatiblism can be divided into classical compatiblism and new compatiblism (including semi-compatibism). Classical compatiblism represented by Hume, Mill, Hobbes, explains free will mainly from external constraints conditions. New-compatiblism represented by Frankfurt, Watson, Wolf, explains mainly from the intrinsic constraint aspects. In addition, there Strawson, Wallace, Fisher respond to questions on the compatiblism from the perspective of moral responsibility.The content of chapter 1 covers how to understand the issue of free will, including the relationship about freedom, moral responsibility and free will; the conflict between determinism and free will; if it possible that the free choice and open future required by free will, as well as if free will and determinism could be compatible; whether the in-determinism could explain the issue of free will, especially why quantum mechanics didn’t shake the status of determinism. The chapter 2 discusses how classic compatiblism deal with issue of free will. Classic compatiblism defines essences of freedom and determinism, in order to clarify controversies and problems caused by vague contempt, on the other hand try to answer the question why free will can be possible. The chapter 3 discuss how new-compatiblism inherits and develops classic compatiblism. New-compatiblism try to explain the issue of free will from the angle of actors’ internal constraints. Frankfurt’s Hierarchical motivation theories introduce the concept of first desire and second-order volitions to explain behaviors of free will. Watson developed the Plato’s point of viewpoint and put forward the concept of free agency to explain the issue of free behaviors. Wolf summarized Frankfurt and Watson’s thought, and proposed the view of True self, that only "do the right thing for the right thing" is the reflection of free will. The chapter four introduce the opinion that how to explain free will and determinism could be compatible from the other perspective, that is paying attention to attitudes we treat others in the practice of daily life which we need to take responsibility to each other, also called "reactive attitude". Representative figures include Strawson, Wallace and Fisher, that deal with issue of free will through the explanation of "reactive attitude". The last chapter summarizes the contempt of freedom discussed by compatibilists. In the conclusion, I propose my own opinion that our brain nerve system is ruled by neurobiological causality, but consciousness or free will based on the brain physiological systems is a emergent property, an attribute that cannot restore as the brain physiological state. It has an attribute that the brain physiological state doesn’t have and one of its characteristics is the agency or free will. This emergent property decides how it possible the free will or free behavior in the macro world with cause and effect.