Science & the Big Questions

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Do We Have Free Will? Maybe It Doesn’t Matter

Topics: Belief Determinism Ethics Free Will Morality

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Is Free Will an Illusion?

Topics: Consciousness Free Will

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The Neuroscience of Free Will: A Q&A with Robyn Repko Waller

Topics: Agency Free Will Scott Barry Kaufman

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Does Moral Responsibility Require Free Will?

Topics: Agency Alfred Mele Determinism Free Will Morality Self-Control

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Philosophers and Neuroscientists Join Forces to See Whether Science Can Solve the Mystery of Free Will

Topics: Consciousness Decision-Making Free Will

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The Clockwork Universe: Is Free Will an Illusion?

Topics: Determinism Free Will Morality

Dartmouth’s Adina Roskies Explores the Nature of Free Will

A new article investigates the link between activity in the brain and human behavior.

Dartmouth News

Topics: Decision-Making Free Will

Building and Enhancing Resilience Through Free Will

Research on the neuroscience behind free will helps us cultivate resiliency.

Hope + Resilience, Psychology Today

Topics: Decision-Making Free Will Resilience

Using Our Free Will to Become More Resilient

An interview with Alfred Mele on how free will can help us and others.

Hope + Resilience, Psychology Today

Topics: Free Will Resilience

A Student Just Proved Paradox-Free Time Travel Is Possible

Time travel is deterministic and locally free, a new paper says.

Popular Mechanics

Topics: Determinism Free Will

From Chaos to Free Will

A crude understanding of physics sees determinism at work in the Universe. Luckily, molecular uncertainty ensures this isn’t so.

Aeon

Topics: Determinism Free Will

Machine Morality

As machines become more autonomous, humans must define the limits of their decision-making. UNC postdoctoral researcher Yochanan Bigman addresses this topic, suggesting where to draw the line when self-governing technology is required to make life-or-death decisions.

UNC Endeavors

Topics: Free Will Morality Robots Technology Values

Book Review: A Physicist’s Grand Tour of the Universe

In Until the End of Time, Brian Greene explores a stunning array of human thought, from evolution to consciousness.

Undark

Topics: Brian Greene Consciousness Cosmic Origins Free Will Meaning Universe

We Tend to See Acts We Disapprove of as Deliberate

A bias that helps explain why conservatives believe in free will more than liberals.

British Psychological Society Research Digest

Topics: Free Will Morality

A Famous Argument Against Free Will Has Been Debunked

For decades, a landmark brain study fed speculation about whether we control our own actions. It seems to have made a classic mistake.

The Atlantic

Topics: Determinism Free Will

Can Neuroscience Understand Free Will?

Perhaps free will won’t forever be an issue philosophers mull over for a lifetime.

Nautilus

Topics: Agency Determinism Free Will Morality

There’s No Such Thing as Free Will

But we’re better off believing in it anyway.

The Atlantic

Topics: Agency Determinism Free Will Meaning Morality

Yes, Determinists, There Is Free Will

You make choices even if your atoms don’t.

Nautilus

Topics: Agency Decision-Making Determinism Free Will Metaphysics

Free Will Is Not Going Away

Many neuroscientists and some philosophers consider free will to be an illusion, but the situation is not so simple.

Institute for Cross-Disciplinary Engagement

Topics: Agency Free Will Marcelo Gleiser

The Free Will Project: An Interview with Santiago Amaya and Manuel Vargas

Research into free will, responsibility, and agency.

APA Blog

Topics: Agency Free Will Metaphysics Morality

The “Bias Blind Spot” Just Replicated (“Everyone Else Is More Biased Than Me”)

Prasad Chandrashekar, Siu Kit Yeung, and colleagues report reproducing the original study.

British Psychological Society Research Digest

Topics: Agency Bias Free Will

Feeling Anxious? It’s Not Just You, It’s Our Philosophical Era of Neuroexistentialism

This contemporary angst arises from the growing body of knowledge that shows the existence we experience is a result of neural processes.

Quartz

Topics: Agency Determinism Free Will Meaning Morality Naturalism Purpose

Libertarian Free Will: Neuroscientific and Philosophical Evidence

A free online course with Peter Tse, a professor of psychological and brain sciences, funded by the Institute for Cross-Disciplinary Engagement at Dartmouth.

DartmouthX

Topics: Determinism Free Will

Philosophy Has Made Plenty of Progress

Philosopher Tim Maudlin sees advances in free will, morality, and the meaning of quantum mechanics.

Cross-Check, Scientific American

Topics: Consciousness Ethics Free Will Multiverse Quantum Mechanics

This Halloween, a Social Experiment Will Allow Internet Users to Control the Actions of a Real Person

MIT Media Laboratory’s BeeMe is the love child of Black Mirror and psychologist Stanley Milgram’s notorious experiments on free will and obedience.

Smithsonian

Topics: Cooperation Decision-Making Free Will

Just Deserts

Can we be held morally responsible for our actions? Yes, says Daniel Dennett. No, says Gregg Caruso.

Aeon

Topics: Determinism Free Will Luck Morality Self-Control

How Much Control Do You Really Have Over Your Actions? These Brain Regions Provide Clues

Neuroscientists are beginning to pinpoint the regions of the brain involved in the perception of free will.

Science

Topics: Agency Free Will