Q&A: Randomness and Free Will
Randomness and Free Will
Question
Good evening, Rabbi,
after reading your book The Science of Freedom, there are 2 questions that still don’t sit right with me, and I’d be happy if you could answer both of them.
First question: what is the difference between free choice and randomness? The book says that free choice is goal-based, and therefore it is different from randomness. However, since being grounded in a goal does not change in any way the indeterminacy of the decision, what does it add that makes an essential difference?
Second question: is the goal itself of free choice random, or does it too have a goal, and so on ad infinitum?
Answer
I didn’t understand what is difficult here. You correctly presented my explanation. Indeed, a voluntary act has no cause, but it does have a goal. It is similar to a random act in that it has no cause, but different from it in that it has a goal. I don’t understand what is unclear.
The goal of the choice is itself the thing that I choose. For example, I face a dilemma whether to do X or Y. I decide to do X because it serves value A. So I chose value A (that is, I decided that it is the correct one and that it is the one that obligates me), and I also chose to obey it and act accordingly. The chain does not continue beyond that.