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Does Science Refute Free Will?

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Human Nature and the Limits of Darwinism
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Abstract

At the heart of the traditional conception of human nature is the idea of free will, that is, man’s capacity to choose whether to be guided by the animal side of his nature or to have reason rule the lower passions. It has, however, become a commonplace among scientists that free will must be an illusion. In this chapter, we show why the arguments made against free will are misguided. There is no reason to believe that science has raised any serious doubt about our capacity to deliberate and choose based on reason. Indeed, science itself presupposes just such a rational capacity.

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Kaufman, W.R.P. (2016). Does Science Refute Free Will?. In: Human Nature and the Limits of Darwinism. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59288-0_3

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