Open AccessNatural foundations of the freedom of choice
Author(s) -
Petar Grujić
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
theoria
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2406-081X
pISSN - 0351-2274
DOI - 10.2298/theo0204077g
Subject(s) - determinism , epistemology , metaphysics , free will , natural (archaeology) , situated , construct (python library) , context (archaeology) , compatibilism , physical science , limiting , freedom of choice , sociology , philosophy , computer science , social science , law , artificial intelligence , political science , mechanical engineering , paleontology , archaeology , biology , engineering , history , programming language
If understood as a primitive notion, freedom appears a metaphysical construct. In the context of the natural science, free will of an individual in the sense of a freedom of choice, is situated somewhere between the concept of an absolute determinism and pure spontaneity. Both categories may be analysed from the viewpoint of the nature of physical processes (in a wider sense), which presumably underlie the material background of mind, and hence form the organic base of making decision. We consider some aspects of physical phenomena as limiting factors in making decisions. A number of latest inferences in the structure and functioning of brain, as well as some aspects of the relations between physiological phenomena and mind, are discussed. Concepts of determinism and chance will be considered from the point of view of modern physics, both classical and quantum ones. Finally, a case study of an authentic historical situation will be made, which illustrates essential features of the problem of free will and its limits both as anthropological and ethical barriers