Lydia Davis

Free will is the ability to choose from future alternatives

The logic of free will has 2 main parts, the agency which does the choosing, and the alternatives which are chosen. These two parts are wholy different from each other, "what chooses" is called spiritual, "what is chosen" is called material. Together with these dual substances come dual ways of reaching a conclusion, called subjectivity and objectivity.

Subjectivity: to reach a conclusion about what exists in the spiritual domain by choosing the answer resulting in a opinions or beliefs.

Objectivity: to reach a conclusion about what exists in the material domain by measuring it, resulting in facts.

William of Ockham philosophically justified both objectivity and subjectivity

Overview of the dual categories in free will

the spiritual and the material domain

Love, hate, God, the human spirit (who you are as being the owner of your decisions), the soul, peace, fear are in the spiritual domain. One may also reach the conclusion that the spiritual domain is empty, provided one reaches the conclusion by choosing it. (emptiness is symbolized by the incomplete circle in the picture)

Decisions connect the spiritual domain directly to the material domain, which because of the freedom in choosing leaves no evidence of a spiritual domain.

The body (and brain) is chosen over, you can move your arms this way or that alternatively, but also by eating one thing or the other your body becomes one or the other. The body then consists of chosen alternatives.

Clearly the alphabet, words, are also a set of 26 alternatives, from which is chosen. Consider the relationship between the word love, and the genuine love as it is in the spritual domain. One chooses the words “I love you”, and then one may opine that the spirit in which the words were chosen was loving, but still alternatively one may also opine that the spirit in which the words were chosen was hateful.

There are 2 pictures of superman, one wearing a red and blue dress, the other wearing a yellow and green dress. The difference in coloring is meant to illustrate that the fantasy figure superman also consists of chosen alternatives, and therefore fantasy in essence also belongs to the material domain. The question of what emotions the fantasyfigure superman has is a subjective issue, resulting in an opinion about the spirit of the fantasy figure superman. Many times people argue that God also belongs in fantasy figure category, that God is chosen, because there are many different gods witnessed throughout the world. However in general most all religions have made it clear they use the name God addressing what chooses, and not addressing what is chosen. Religions generally emphasize faith and not measurement, which clearly indicates the gods are considered by religions to be in the spiritual domain doing the choosing.

what chooses (agency)	what is chosen
subjectively identified	objectively measured
spiritual domain	material domain
opinion (creates information)	fact (rewrites information)
soul	body
God,love, hate, self, happiness etc.	solids, gasses, fluids, (fermions), etc. fantasy figures, mathematics
creator	creation

Decisions connect the spiritual domain to the material domain, which because of the freedom in choosing leaves no evidence of a spiritual domain.

Objectivity and subjectivity

The way in which something can be known about material is relatively straightforward, through measurement we can know the properties of a material thing. For instance when a videocamera is turned towards the moon, then the information travels from the moon by medium of light, through the lens, through the circuitry of the videocamera, onto the videotape.

This transferring or copying of information unchanged (also known as rewriting) is called being objective. The videocamera provides objective information about the moon. When somebody looks at the moon, then in the same way as the videocamera, information transfers from the moon, by medium of light, through the eyes, to the memory in the brain, resulting in objective facts about the moon in memory.

In the case of the videocamera the information from the moon was rewritten as magnetism on the videotape, in the case of the person the information was rewritten as electro-chemistry in the brain.

Where objectivity works by force, subjectivity works by freedom. The way in which something can be said about the spiritual doing the choosing is thus very different from measurement. If we want to identify the agency of any decision, then we must choose what the agency consists of.

For example: if X can turn out A or B in the moment, and the decision turns out B, then the question "What made the decision turn out B instead of A?" must be answered with a new decision between alternatives like:

1 - it was hateful that X chose B instead of A

2 - it was loving that X chose B instead of A

If for example alternative 1 is chosen, then that results in the opinion that it was hate which made X turn out B instead of A.

Because the conclusion must be arrived at by choosing, it means that for every question about what is in the spiritual domain there are at least 2 logically correct answers available. This doesn't mean that every available answer is morally upright, or that any available answer is morally upright.

Logical fallacy of scientism

The "mad evil scientist" is a staple character in Hollywood productions, like the portrayal by Jim Parsons of Sheldon in the Big Bang Theory TV-show

Refers to an argument common among scientists, which argument is to reject the existence of subjectively identified things, because subjectively identified things cannot be objectively measured.

The argument competes objectivity against subjectivity, resulting in the rejection of all emotions, and pseudoscientific knowledge of good and evil.

In scientism the definition of choosing is redefind to mean "calculating an optimum" or "sorting out the best result". Instead of the focus being on the spirit in which a decision is made, the focus is on the "best" result of a decision.

The acceptance of scientism leads to the "mad evil scientist pathology", which is often caricatured in Hollywood productions involving scientists as characters.

Biblical interpretation

The biblical doctrine outlined in the book of Genesis, during the creation of the world explains the importance of choosing in regards to morality. The original parents of mankind, Adam and Eve as real historical persons, made the first human choice; the choice between the will of God which they were influenced by since their creation, and their own will as influenced by Satan. Both original and separate influences offer a distinct alternative that persons decide to follow based on their free will, in relation to experience filtered through their sensory system, which is analyzed by logic within the mind, which offers up alternatives for the human spirit to decide. The free will exercised by Adam and Eve severed the covenant with God by acting outside of His will. This act of free will had the consequence of a generational curse upon the rest of mankind, fundamentally altering life as they (Adam and Eve) knew it because of their sin. The original sin against the will and therefore nature of God physically and spiritually had a sort of epigenetic affect on all of biology, introducing death and the struggle and survival that comes with it. By eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil Adam and Eve less felt what is good and bad, instead they became more emotionless and calculating in determining their course of action. Calculating in terms of survival and death.

1Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?" 2The woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'" 4The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die! 5"For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 6When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

Scientific evidence

The problem in providing incontrovertible hard evidence for free will is to empirically establish the existence of alternatives not chosen. One can see the result chosen, but one cannot know the result was in fact chosen if one cannot establish the reality of the unchosen alternative also. In 2006 a team of researchers at the University of Illinois managed to search a database without running the search algorithm, instead exploiting the information on the alternative state that the algorithm could have run to infer the search result. This experiment proved that alternatives are indeed real, however in this experiment it is unclear whether the alternatives are in the future as is stated in common knowledge, or in the present.

Professor Daniel Dubois wrote a paper distinghuishing "strong anticipation" from "weak anticipation". Essentially the term "weak anticipation" refers to calculations of what the result will be, or sorting out the best result. The term "strong anticipation" refers to the actual future of alternatives that an object stands in anticipative relation to and decides.

Politics and Ideology

Charles Darwin wrote that love can be objectively measured

File:Cutout expression of emotion in man and animals.JPG

Photographic evidence used by Darwin for his theory on equating emotions with physical manifestations

Ernst Haeckel wrote that Jesus was loving, as a matter of pseudoscientific fact

Josef Stalin did not know what making a decision meant

Adolf Hitler used nazi ideology to surpress his free will

Theories about free will in which the agency of decisions is treated as a matter of subjective opinion and faith are strongly related to ideological doctrines where democracy is central. Theories about free will which treat agency as a matter of objective fact instead, are strongly related to ideological and political doctrines in which freedom plays a subordinate role, like Nazism, Communism, Atheism and Liberalism.

Social darwinist doctrines about the heritable character of people, based on the theory of natural selection, greatly influenced intellectual and political climate of opinion in the past, and continues to do so at present. Starting from Darwin's theory of natural selection evolutionists began a massive onslaught against all knowledge in terms of freedom (alternatives and decision), replacing it with knowledge in terms of force (cause and effect). Theories about people deciding in freedom were replaced with theories about people being forced by genes and environment. Agents of the human spirit, such as love and hate, were treated as a mattter of fact, instead of as a matter of opinion.

Charles Darwin wrote a book called "The expression of emotions in man and animals.", in which he explained all emotions in terms of a darwinian struggle for survival, and advanced a pseudoscience of measuring emotions using facial measurements.

In the early part of the 20th century the influential darwinist Ernst Haeckel wrote about the “loving” agency of Jesus Christ as exhibiting an “Aryan” blood character.Haeckel was not a Christian but an atheist, he treated the love of Christ as a matter of scientific fact, not a matter of faith. Social darwinism is considered the main ideological input in the rise of Nazism, which led to the holocaust. Specifically the denial of free will in Nazism is considered it's most lethal aspect. Because of the influence of social darwinism on Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin they largely did not even know what it meant to make a decision, which willful ignorance effectively sabotaged their conscience.

China is currentely drifting towards social darwinism. The overwhelming majority of scientists in the world at present support some form of social darwinism, where agency is treated as a matter of objective fact, and moral imperatives are derived in a context of natural selection theory. There is a new onslaught against all knowledge in terms of freedom, replacing it with knowledge in terms of force. Specially pseudoscientific neurological findings equating love with brainprocesses are offered as proof that free will is not real. However, the MRI brain imaging equipment which these neuroscientists use to disprove free will, was redesigned by Walter Schempp using a theory in which freedom is held to be real. The redesigned MRI made vast improvements in imagequality over it's predecessor.

Psychology

Pscyhological research has found that disbelief in free will is related to increased agression and reduced helpfulness.

Inducing disbelief in free will has been found to alter brain states related to preconscious motor preparation

Belief in free will predicts better job performance.

Biological function of free will

Free will of organisms appears to contribute to their survival in many ways. The variation in use of muscles caused by free will reduces wear and tear of them. Search algorithms for food are more optimal when based on freedom. Free will also provides predators with surprise in attack, and prey with unpredictability in escape.

DNA consists of chosen alternatives C,A,T and G. When looking at any particular string of DNA one should consider the alternatives that could have been chosen instead. DNA from one generation to the next is constructed based on informed and reasoned choices. The DNA is kept in a state of indecision, at which point the alternative states C, A, T, and G present themselves, and the organization of DNA as a whole is chosen.

Creation, Creatio ex nihilo

In a choice information is created, namely the information which way the choice turns out. The information is new in the universe, and therefore the information is derived from nothing. Commonly this principle is referred to with the latin phrase "Creatio ex nihilo". This nothing where the information derives from is objectively measurable. The measurements and calculations about where the information derives from simply turn out zero for position, mass, velocity, and so on. For instance the noise in a random number generator, which is used for encrypting data so that it remains secret, is derived from the socalled quantum mechanical zeropoint. When scientists look for the origin of a thing, then they always find nothing at the origin, and not a creator. The creator can only be found by deciding about the agency of the decisions found.

Other views

Non creationist views on free will treat the agency of a decision as a matter of objective fact. Through a generally accepted policy of sustained intellectual thuggery against consideration of a subjectively identified spiritual domain, the overwhelming majority of scientists and intellectuals in the world at present currently support a socalled compatibilist or determinist position on free will, and thereby the majority of scientists and intellectuals currently provide no room for subjectivity.

Compatibilism

This doctrine redefines the meaning of all words associated to free will, to make them use a logic of force. For example darwinian philosopher Daniel Dennett regards a thermostat as an agent which chooses, eventhough he says that in it's workings the thermostat is completely forced.

Dualism of fantasy and reality

This doctrine replaces the dualism of spiritual and material, with a dualism of fantasy and reality. The objects in fantasy are contrasted with objects in the external world, where objects in fantasy are regarded as not being real. For example Descartes used the latin phrase "cogito ergo sum", which means "I think therefore I am." To Descartes this meant a demonstration of the objective matter of fact of his spiritual existence as the owner of his choices. According to the logic of Ockham, this phrase only means a subjective assertion of purpose. Like a baker might say, "I bake therefore I am, baking is my purpose.", "I think, therefore I am, thinking is my purpose." Despite that there is a glaring inconsistency in that objects in fantasy are regarded as a matter of fact, yet they are regarded as not real, this is still an accurate representation of what these dualists believe. The distinction between gods and fantasy figures is lost with this kind of dualism, leading to widespread ridicule of religion by people believing in this doctrine, accusing religious people of believing in fantasy figures.

Determinism

This doctrine advances an illusion of free will. Intellectually determinists deny free will is real, but in daily life they affirm it's existence on a practical basis as an illusion.

External Links

• Professors Coyne and Miller clash on free will October 4, 2011
• Questions on Molinism, Compatibilism and Free Will Podcast by William Lane Craig.

See Also

• Randomness
• Probability

References

Template:Link GA Template:Link GA Template:Link FA Free will is the ability to choose from future alternatives

The logic of free will has 2 main parts, the agency which does the choosing, and the alternatives which are chosen. These two parts are wholy different from each other, "what chooses" is called spiritual, "what is chosen" is called material. Together with these dual substances come dual ways of reaching a conclusion, called subjectivity and objectivity.

Subjectivity: to reach a conclusion about what exists in the spiritual domain by choosing the answer resulting in a opinions or beliefs.

Objectivity: to reach a conclusion about what exists in the material domain by measuring it, resulting in facts.

William of Ockham philosophically justified both objectivity and subjectivity

Overview of the dual categories in free will

the spiritual and the material domain

Love, hate, God, the human spirit (who you are as being the owner of your decisions), the soul, peace, fear are in the spiritual domain. One may also reach the conclusion that the spiritual domain is empty, provided one reaches the conclusion by choosing it. (emptiness is symbolized by the incomplete circle in the picture)

Decisions connect the spiritual domain directly to the material domain, which because of the freedom in choosing leaves no evidence of a spiritual domain.

The body (and brain) is chosen over, you can move your arms this way or that alternatively, but also by eating one thing or the other your body becomes one or the other. The body then consists of chosen alternatives.

Clearly the alphabet, words, are also a set of 26 alternatives, from which is chosen. Consider the relationship between the word love, and the genuine love as it is in the spritual domain. One chooses the words “I love you”, and then one may opine that the spirit in which the words were chosen was loving, but still alternatively one may also opine that the spirit in which the words were chosen was hateful.

There are 2 pictures of superman, one wearing a red and blue dress, the other wearing a yellow and green dress. The difference in coloring is meant to illustrate that the fantasy figure superman also consists of chosen alternatives, and therefore fantasy in essence also belongs to the material domain. The question of what emotions the fantasyfigure superman has is a subjective issue, resulting in an opinion about the spirit of the fantasy figure superman. Many times people argue that God also belongs in fantasy figure category, that God is chosen, because there are many different gods witnessed throughout the world. However in general most all religions have made it clear they use the name God addressing what chooses, and not addressing what is chosen. Religions generally emphasize faith and not measurement, which clearly indicates the gods are considered by religions to be in the spiritual domain doing the choosing.

what chooses (agency)	what is chosen
subjectively identified	objectively measured
spiritual domain	material domain
opinion (creates information)	fact (rewrites information)
soul	body
God,love, hate, self, happiness etc.	solids, gasses, fluids, (fermions), etc. fantasy figures, mathematics
creator	creation

Decisions connect the spiritual domain to the material domain, which because of the freedom in choosing leaves no evidence of a spiritual domain.

Objectivity and subjectivity

The way in which something can be known about material is relatively straightforward, through measurement we can know the properties of a material thing. For instance when a videocamera is turned towards the moon, then the information travels from the moon by medium of light, through the lens, through the circuitry of the videocamera, onto the videotape.

This transferring or copying of information unchanged (also known as rewriting) is called being objective. The videocamera provides objective information about the moon. When somebody looks at the moon, then in the same way as the videocamera, information transfers from the moon, by medium of light, through the eyes, to the memory in the brain, resulting in objective facts about the moon in memory.

In the case of the videocamera the information from the moon was rewritten as magnetism on the videotape, in the case of the person the information was rewritten as electro-chemistry in the brain.

Where objectivity works by force, subjectivity works by freedom. The way in which something can be said about the spiritual doing the choosing is thus very different from measurement. If we want to identify the agency of any decision, then we must choose what the agency consists of.

For example: if X can turn out A or B in the moment, and the decision turns out B, then the question "What made the decision turn out B instead of A?" must be answered with a new decision between alternatives like:

1 - it was hateful that X chose B instead of A

2 - it was loving that X chose B instead of A

If for example alternative 1 is chosen, then that results in the opinion that it was hate which made X turn out B instead of A.

Because the conclusion must be arrived at by choosing, it means that for every question about what is in the spiritual domain there are at least 2 logically correct answers available. This doesn't mean that every available answer is morally upright, or that any available answer is morally upright.

Logical fallacy of scientism

The "mad evil scientist" is a staple character in Hollywood productions, like the portrayal by Jim Parsons of Sheldon in the Big Bang Theory TV-show

Refers to an argument common among scientists, which argument is to reject the existence of subjectively identified things, because subjectively identified things cannot be objectively measured.

The argument competes objectivity against subjectivity, resulting in the rejection of all emotions, and pseudoscientific knowledge of good and evil.

In scientism the definition of choosing is redefind to mean "calculating an optimum" or "sorting out the best result". Instead of the focus being on the spirit in which a decision is made, the focus is on the "best" result of a decision.

The acceptance of scientism leads to the "mad evil scientist pathology", which is often caricatured in Hollywood productions involving scientists as characters.

Biblical interpretation

The biblical doctrine outlined in the book of Genesis, during the creation of the world explains the importance of choosing in regards to morality. The original parents of mankind, Adam and Eve as real historical persons, made the first human choice; the choice between the will of God which they were influenced by since their creation, and their own will as influenced by Satan. Both original and separate influences offer a distinct alternative that persons decide to follow based on their free will, in relation to experience filtered through their sensory system, which is analyzed by logic within the mind, which offers up alternatives for the human spirit to decide. The free will exercised by Adam and Eve severed the covenant with God by acting outside of His will. This act of free will had the consequence of a generational curse upon the rest of mankind, fundamentally altering life as they (Adam and Eve) knew it because of their sin. The original sin against the will and therefore nature of God physically and spiritually had a sort of epigenetic affect on all of biology, introducing death and the struggle and survival that comes with it. By eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil Adam and Eve less felt what is good and bad, instead they became more emotionless and calculating in determining their course of action. Calculating in terms of survival and death.

1Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?" 2The woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'" 4The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die! 5"For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 6When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

Scientific evidence

The problem in providing incontrovertible hard evidence for free will is to empirically establish the existence of alternatives not chosen. One can see the result chosen, but one cannot know the result was in fact chosen if one cannot establish the reality of the unchosen alternative also. In 2006 a team of researchers at the University of Illinois managed to search a database without running the search algorithm, instead exploiting the information on the alternative state that the algorithm could have run to infer the search result. This experiment proved that alternatives are indeed real, however in this experiment it is unclear whether the alternatives are in the future as is stated in common knowledge, or in the present.

Professor Daniel Dubois wrote a paper distinghuishing "strong anticipation" from "weak anticipation". Essentially the term "weak anticipation" refers to calculations of what the result will be, or sorting out the best result. The term "strong anticipation" refers to the actual future of alternatives that an object stands in anticipative relation to and decides.

Politics and Ideology

Charles Darwin wrote that love can be objectively measured

File:Cutout expression of emotion in man and animals.JPG

Photographic evidence used by Darwin for his theory on equating emotions with physical manifestations

Ernst Haeckel wrote that Jesus was loving, as a matter of pseudoscientific fact

Josef Stalin did not know what making a decision meant

Adolf Hitler used nazi ideology to surpress his free will

Theories about free will in which the agency of decisions is treated as a matter of subjective opinion and faith are strongly related to ideological doctrines where democracy is central. Theories about free will which treat agency as a matter of objective fact instead, are strongly related to ideological and political doctrines in which freedom plays a subordinate role, like Nazism, Communism, Atheism and Liberalism.

Social darwinist doctrines about the heritable character of people, based on the theory of natural selection, greatly influenced intellectual and political climate of opinion in the past, and continues to do so at present. Starting from Darwin's theory of natural selection evolutionists began a massive onslaught against all knowledge in terms of freedom (alternatives and decision), replacing it with knowledge in terms of force (cause and effect). Theories about people deciding in freedom were replaced with theories about people being forced by genes and environment. Agents of the human spirit, such as love and hate, were treated as a mattter of fact, instead of as a matter of opinion.

Charles Darwin wrote a book called "The expression of emotions in man and animals.", in which he explained all emotions in terms of a darwinian struggle for survival, and advanced a pseudoscience of measuring emotions using facial measurements.

In the early part of the 20th century the influential darwinist Ernst Haeckel wrote about the “loving” agency of Jesus Christ as exhibiting an “Aryan” blood character.Haeckel was not a Christian but an atheist, he treated the love of Christ as a matter of scientific fact, not a matter of faith. Social darwinism is considered the main ideological input in the rise of Nazism, which led to the holocaust. Specifically the denial of free will in Nazism is considered it's most lethal aspect. Because of the influence of social darwinism on Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin they largely did not even know what it meant to make a decision, which willful ignorance effectively sabotaged their conscience.

China is currentely drifting towards social darwinism. The overwhelming majority of scientists in the world at present support some form of social darwinism, where agency is treated as a matter of objective fact, and moral imperatives are derived in a context of natural selection theory. There is a new onslaught against all knowledge in terms of freedom, replacing it with knowledge in terms of force. Specially pseudoscientific neurological findings equating love with brainprocesses are offered as proof that free will is not real. However, the MRI brain imaging equipment which these neuroscientists use to disprove free will, was redesigned by Walter Schempp using a theory in which freedom is held to be real. The redesigned MRI made vast improvements in imagequality over it's predecessor.

Psychology

Pscyhological research has found that disbelief in free will is related to increased agression and reduced helpfulness.

Inducing disbelief in free will has been found to alter brain states related to preconscious motor preparation

Belief in free will predicts better job performance.

Biological function of free will

Free will of organisms appears to contribute to their survival in many ways. The variation in use of muscles caused by free will reduces wear and tear of them. Search algorithms for food are more optimal when based on freedom. Free will also provides predators with surprise in attack, and prey with unpredictability in escape.

DNA consists of chosen alternatives C,A,T and G. When looking at any particular string of DNA one should consider the alternatives that could have been chosen instead. DNA from one generation to the next is constructed based on informed and reasoned choices. The DNA is kept in a state of indecision, at which point the alternative states C, A, T, and G present themselves, and the organization of DNA as a whole is chosen.

Creation, Creatio ex nihilo

In a choice information is created, namely the information which way the choice turns out. The information is new in the universe, and therefore the information is derived from nothing. Commonly this principle is referred to with the latin phrase "Creatio ex nihilo". This nothing where the information derives from is objectively measurable. The measurements and calculations about where the information derives from simply turn out zero for position, mass, velocity, and so on. For instance the noise in a random number generator, which is used for encrypting data so that it remains secret, is derived from the socalled quantum mechanical zeropoint. When scientists look for the origin of a thing, then they always find nothing at the origin, and not a creator. The creator can only be found by deciding about the agency of the decisions found.

Other views

Non creationist views on free will treat the agency of a decision as a matter of objective fact. Through a generally accepted policy of sustained intellectual thuggery against consideration of a subjectively identified spiritual domain, the overwhelming majority of scientists and intellectuals in the world at present currently support a socalled compatibilist or determinist position on free will, and thereby the majority of scientists and intellectuals currently provide no room for subjectivity.

Compatibilism

This doctrine redefines the meaning of all words associated to free will, to make them use a logic of force. For example darwinian philosopher Daniel Dennett regards a thermostat as an agent which chooses, eventhough he says that in it's workings the thermostat is completely forced.

Dualism of fantasy and reality

This doctrine replaces the dualism of spiritual and material, with a dualism of fantasy and reality. The objects in fantasy are contrasted with objects in the external world, where objects in fantasy are regarded as not being real. For example Descartes used the latin phrase "cogito ergo sum", which means "I think therefore I am." To Descartes this meant a demonstration of the objective matter of fact of his spiritual existence as the owner of his choices. According to the logic of Ockham, this phrase only means a subjective assertion of purpose. Like a baker might say, "I bake therefore I am, baking is my purpose.", "I think, therefore I am, thinking is my purpose." Despite that there is a glaring inconsistency in that objects in fantasy are regarded as a matter of fact, yet they are regarded as not real, this is still an accurate representation of what these dualists believe. The distinction between gods and fantasy figures is lost with this kind of dualism, leading to widespread ridicule of religion by people believing in this doctrine, accusing religious people of believing in fantasy figures.

Determinism

This doctrine advances an illusion of free will. Intellectually determinists deny free will is real, but in daily life they affirm it's existence on a practical basis as an illusion.

includes graphic descriptions of the various emotions, and is admirably illustrated. It is generally admitted that his service consists chiefly in having shown the intimate relation which exists between the movements of expression and those of respiration. One of the most important points, small as it may at first appear, is that the muscles round the eyes are involuntarily contracted during violent expiratory efforts, in order to protect these delicate organs from the pressure of the blood. This fact, which has been fully investigated for me with the greatest kindness by Professor Donders of Utrecht, throws, as we shall hereafter see, a flood of light on several of the most important expressions of the human countenance. The merits of Sir C. Bell's work have been undervalued or quite ignored by several foreign writers, but have been fully admitted by some, for instance by M. Lemoine,5 who with great justice says:—"Le livre de Ch. Bell devrait être médité par quiconque essaye de faire parler le visage de l'homme, par les philosophes aussi bien que par les artistes, car, sous une apparence plus légère et sous le prétexte de l'esthétique, c'est un des plus beaux monu-

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4 I always quote from the third edition, 1844, which was published after the death of Sir C. Bell, and contains his latest corrections. The first edition of 1806 is much inferior in merit, and does not include some of his more important views.

5 'De la Physionomie et de la Parole,' par Albert Lemoine, 1865, p. 101.

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ments de la science des rapports du physique et du moral."

From reasons which will presently be assigned, Sir C. Bell did not attempt to follow out his views as far as they might have been carried. He does not try to explain why different muscles are brought into action under different emotions; why, for instance, the inner ends of the eyebrows are raised, and the corners of the mouth depressed, by a person suffering from grief or anxiety.

In 1807 M. Moreau edited an edition of Lavater on Physiognomy,6 in which he incorporated several of his own essays, containing excellent descriptions of the movements of the facial muscles, together with many valuable remarks. He throws, however, very little light on the philosophy of the subject. For instance, M. Moreau, in speaking of the act of frowning, that is, of the contraction of the muscle called by

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6 'L'Art de connaître les Hommes,' &c., par G. Lavater. The earliest edition of this work, referred to in the preface to the edition of 1820 in ten volumes, as containing the observations of M. Moreau, is said to have been published in 1807; and I have no doubt that this is correct, because the 'Notice sur Lavater' at the commencement of volume i. is dated April 13, 1806. In some bibliographical works, however, the date of 1805-1809 is given, but it seems impossible that 1805 can be correct. Dr. Duchenne remarks ('Mécanisme de la Physionomie Humaine,' 8vo edit. 1862, p. 5. and 'Archives Générales de Médecine,' Jan. et Fév. 1862) that M. Moreau "a composé pour son ouvrage un article important," &c., in the year 1805; and I find in volume i. of the edition of 1820 passages bearing the dates of December 12, 1805, and another January 5, 1806, besides that of April 13, 1806, above referred to. In consequence of some of these passages having thus been composed in 1805, Dr. Duchenne assigns to M. Moreau the priority over Sir C. Bell, whose work, as we have seen, was published in 1806. This is a very unusual manner of determining the priority of scientific works; but such questions are of extremely little importance in comparison with their relative merits. The passages above quoted from M. Moreau and from Le Brun are taken in this and all other cases from the edition of 1820 of Lavater, tom. iv. p. 228, and tom. ix. p. 279.

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French writers the sourcilier (corrugator supercilii), remarks with truth:—"Cette action des sourciliers est un des symptômes les plus tranchés de l'expression des affections pénibles ou concentrées." He then adds that these muscles, from their attachment and position, are fitted "à resserrer, à concentrer les principaux traits de la face, comme il convient dans toutes ces passions vraiment oppressives ou profondes, dans ces affections dont le sentiment semble porter l'organisation à revenir sur elle-même, à se contracter et à s'amoindrir, comme pour offrir moins de prise et de surface à des impressions redoutables ou importunes." He who thinks that remarks of this kind throw any light on the meaning or origin of the different expressions, takes a very different view of the subject to what I do.

In the above passage there is but a slight, if any, advance in the philosophy of the subject, beyond that reached by the painter Le Brun, who, in 1667, in describing the expression of fright, says:—"Le sourcil qui est abaissé d'un côté et élevé de l'autre, fait voir que la partie élevée semble le vouloir joindre au cerveau pour le garantir du mal que l'âme aperçoit, et le côté qui est abaissé et qui paraît enflé, nous fait trouver dans cet état par les esprits qui viennent du cerveau en abondance, comme pour couvrir l'âme et la défendre du mal qu'elle craint; la bouche fort ouverte fait voir le saisissement du cœur, par le sang qui se retire vers lui, ce qui l'oblige, voulant respirer, à faire un effort qui est cause que la bouche s'ouvre extrêmement, et qui, lorsqu'il passe par les organes de la voix, forme un son qui n'est point articulé; que si les muscles et les veines paraissent enflés, ce n'est que par les esprits que le cerveau envoie en ces parties-là." I have thought the fore-

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going sentences worth quoting, as specimens of the surprising nonsense which has been written on the subject.

'The Physiology or Mechanism of Blushing,' by Dr. Burgess, appeared in 1839, and to this work I shall frequently refer in my thirteenth Chapter.

In 1862 Dr. Duchenne published two editions, in folio and octavo, of his 'Mécanisme de la Physionomie Humaine,' in which he analyses by means of electricity, and illustrates by magnificent photographs, the movements of the facial muscles. He has generously permitted me to copy as many of his photographs as I desired. His works have been spoken lightly of, or quite passed over, by some of his countrymen. It is possible that Dr. Duchenne may have exaggerated the importance of the contraction of single muscles in giving expression; for, owing to the intimate manner in which the muscles are connected, as may be seen in Henle's anatomical drawings7—the best I believe ever published—it is difficult to believe in their separate action. Nevertheless, it is manifest that Dr. Duchenne clearly apprehended this and other sources of error, and as it is known that he was eminently successful in elucidating the physiology of the muscles of the hand by the aid of electricity, it is probable that he is generally in the right about the muscles of the face. In my opinion, Dr. Duchenne has greatly advanced the subject by his treatment of it. No one has more carefully studied the contraction of each separate muscle, and the consequent furrows produced on the skin. He has also, and this is a very important service, shown which muscles

External Links

• Professors Coyne and Miller clash on free will October 4, 2011
• Questions on Molinism, Compatibilism and Free Will Podcast by William Lane Craig.

See Also

• Randomness
• Probability