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Questions about the sciences of freedom

שו”תCategory: philosophyQuestions about the sciences of freedom
asked 9 years ago

Hello Rabbi
I looked at the book The Science of Freedom after being referred to it. Several questions:
1) From what I understood, a voluntary action would be performed by creating a force field (say) that would affect the movement of particles, etc. I didn’t understand how this fits with your assertion that the physical world is constant and has no spaces. If there are no spaces, then how is it possible that I, by my choice, would “invent” a force field out of thin air? After all, you say that the system is constant and has no spaces, so where is the place to introduce an “electric field” into this, if there are no spaces?
2) In the spirit of the first question – from what I understood from you, you do not advocate the “God of the Gaps” method. But aren’t you relying on the fact that it is not yet possible to explain the entire human nervous system as a direct and absolute result of data transmitted to the brain? According to you, my consideration lies somewhere in the middle. And the very fact that it has not yet been proven that it is possible to see a complete connection between what is given and what is done in the end, is what gives me the possibility of saying that I have a choice in the middle. But isn’t this the God of the Gaps argument? That science simply has not yet been able to prove this from its experiments, but it is still possible to prove it?
3) Why do you say that it is more likely that the brain creates a force field rather than electrons? What is the difference? Does this have any implications for the previous question, of what can be proven experimentally and what cannot be proven?


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מיכי Staff answered 9 years ago
I explained these things in detail in the book itself. 1. My argument is that the world is governed by natural laws with interventions of human choices. This is the nature of the world itself (see the discussion there on lex specialis considerations). In this nature there seem to be no gaps, although this too cannot be determined categorically (God may intervene sometimes, but it does not seem so, and certainly not often, and certainly not on a regular basis). 2. I am not proving the existence of choice from the gap. I am claiming that there is choice because of my direct experience, and claiming that science has not disproved it because there are gaps. If in the future this is proven, I hope I will be honest enough to admit my mistake. 3. I did not write about the possibility that a brain produces electrons, and in general the discussion is about the will and not the brain. I raised two possibilities: the will creates a force field that moves electrons. The will moves electrons without force. Of these two, the first seems more plausible, but it really doesn’t matter. As far as I’m concerned, you can choose the second. My argument is that if you are a libertarian, there is no escape from choosing one of these two. —————————————————————————————— Asks: 2. Why would I admit my mistake? After all, you also have philosophical claims that will continue to be valid even if it turns out that in reality there is no choice. Didn’t you say that it contradicts itself if I said there is no choice? Because I made this claim itself, supposedly out of consideration, etc. —————————————————————————————— Rabbi: Indeed. But if I become scientifically convinced that we have no choice, I will have to reconsider my arguments. When I am in that situation (I hope and appreciate that this will not happen) I will be able to answer you more concretely.

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