Q&A: The Intuition of Freedom
The Intuition of Freedom
Question
In the book The Science of Freedom, the Rabbi uses our intuition that we have free will as evidence / a consideration supporting the claim that we do have free will.
On the other hand, the Rabbi admits that in certain cases (such as simple, unimportant decisions) we in fact do not have free will, and we choose according to the circumstances.
Seemingly (at least based on how it feels to me), even in such decisions, we feel that we have free will (even though in practice we do not).
Doesn’t that prove that this intuition is an illusion, or at least undermine its reliability?
In addition, unrelated to the previous question: does the Rabbi know of a source (such as a survey of rabbinic aggadot) for Maimonides’ claim that the aggadot were meant to describe complex ideas / the Account of the Chariot and the Account of Creation, etc.? (I am referring mainly to the “difficult” aggadot, that is, puzzling stories about demons, angels, bizarre actions by figures in the Hebrew Bible that have no source, etc.)
That is, how did Maimonides know that these are not legends and demon-stories that the Sages believed literally? As far as I remember, he does not bring any serious backing for his claim…
Answer
We have a sense that there is no external coercion on us, but not that there is necessarily a real act of decision here. And that is indeed correct.
His claim is based on reasoning. If there are no demons, then apparently it is all allegory. See several articles about this at the beginning of volume 1 of Ein Yaakov, including an article by Rabbi Abraham son of Maimonides, who also discusses his father’s approach.
Discussion on Answer
RP is not external but internal. My claim is that the intuition is in fact correct here too.
Beyond that, even in a fata morgana a person has the feeling that he sees, and still he does not give up trusting his eyes.
But at the end of the day there is external coercion here—RP.
So if the intuition is not correct in this case, why should it be correct about something similar?