Free will has long been a question that invites deep reflection. But are our thoughts truly independent and self-governed, or are they shaped by forces around us? Psychological research suggests that factors such as our environment, our society and our genes may all influence our free will. So how exactly do these forces shape our thinking, and how might we cultivate a genuine sense of freedom in how we think?
What is free will?
Free will refers to the human capacity to make choices and decisions of one's own accord. It is the ability to make decisions according to our values, beliefs and wishes, free from external constraint or coercion. Free will emphasises that an individual can think, choose and act independently, rather than being wholly governed by pure biology, environment or fate. In modern philosophy and psychology, the concept of free will has at times also stirred up considerable debate.
"A man can do what he wants, but not want what he wants." This line comes from the German philosopher Schopenhauer, and it underscores that a person may pursue what they want to do, yet cannot govern what they desire. He held that human behaviour is driven by the unconscious — that is, shaped by our nature and our desires. Take someone who feels hungry, for example: although they can choose not to eat, they cannot resist the desire for food and the instinctive response it provokes — they cannot shake off their appetite. When that person finds food and eats their fill, they may well feel satisfied and happy, but that feeling is likewise the result of instinct and desire, not a choice made by free will. This view aligns with the core idea of Determinism: that everything is determined by prior cause-and-effect relationships; a person is governed by their own nature and desires, and the satisfying of those desires is inevitable — so people have no free will.
Free, or is everything predetermined?
Which philosophical perspectives might challenge this claim? Compatibilism holds that free will and determinism can coexist. Compatibilists argue that even where cause-and-effect relationships and external constraints exist, people can still possess free will, so long as their choices are grounded in their own intentions and desires rather than imposed by outside force.
Take an example: suppose a person faces the choice of eating chocolate cake or a fruit salad. A compatibilist would argue that even though this person's choice is influenced by taste preferences, social pressure and health considerations, as long as the final choice is grounded in their own intentions and desires, they still possess free will. It means they can decide of their own accord which food to eat, rather than being compelled by external factors.
For this reason, compatibilists generally favour a view known as Psychological Determinism, which holds that human behaviour is governed by psychological factors, not necessarily the physical laws of physical determinism. They hold that as long as a person's behaviour is determined of their own accord, according to their mental states and desires, then free will can be said to exist. The scope of this kind of free will may be limited, but it is still enough to allow us to make important moral and ethical choices.
The importance of free will
Although the scope of this kind of free will is limited, it is still enough to allow us to make important moral and ethical choices. The philosopher Frankfurt proposed the idea of first-order desires and second-order desires: a first-order desire is an individual's immediate, basic desire — for example, a craving for food, entertainment or pleasure. A second-order desire, by contrast, refers to people's reflection on and control over these basic desires; that is, it involves thinking at a higher level of awareness about whether a given desire accords with one's values. For example, a person may have a first-order desire to eat chocolate cake, but because of their second-order desire — to have a healthy body — they restrain themselves from eating high-fat foods. He held that genuine free will lies in being able to follow one's second-order desires; that is, choosing to follow one's reason and values, rather than being governed merely by first-order desires.
Free will vs the feeling of freedom
Against this backdrop, the heart of free will lies in being able to observe and control one's own thinking. This concept bears some resemblance to the idea of mindfulness (Mindfulness) — or at least it does when viewed through the lens of the Sense of Agency in psychology. The sense of agency refers to an individual's subjective perception or awareness of the actions they generate. This perception lets a person feel that they are the one steering their own actions, that their behaviour stems from their own intentions and decisions.
It is worth noting that whether free will actually exists is one question, while whether we feel a sense of freedom is quite another. Whether free will truly exists may be a philosophical question that can never be resolved. On the psychological level, what we can do is strengthen our sense of agency, hold ourselves back from acting on every desire, and bring about real change in our lives. This can help us feel more capable of taking charge of our own lives and choices, which in turn helps to ease anxiety and stress, and to raise our self-esteem and self-confidence.
Do you have a sense of agency right now?
Do you feel your sense of agency is strong or weak? When you feel yourself being pulled this way and that by all sorts of thoughts, as though you cannot resist the influence of certain ones, that is a sign of being not quite free in the mind. When you are able to notice the welling-up of inner thoughts and impulses, and have the ability to step back and reflect before choosing whether to act on those impulses, that is a very strong, very powerful feeling of freedom. Although this does not necessarily amount to metaphysical free will, on the psychological level it is, to a certain extent, a very real feeling — and mindfulness can slowly help us build up this state of mind, leaving you feeling more self-directed.
Mindfulness is a form of mental training that helps people reflect on and control their own desires. This is because mindfulness teaches us to observe our present-moment thoughts and emotions, rather than automatically acting on them. By raising our self-awareness, people find it easier to notice their desires and impulses. At the same time, mindfulness encourages accepting present-moment experience rather than passing value judgements on our own feelings or desires. This non-judgemental attitude makes it easier for an individual to observe their desires calmly, instead of being swayed by them.
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References
Earman, J. (1986). A primer on determinism (Vol. 37). Springer Science & Business Media.
Frankfurt, H. (2018). Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person. In Agency And Responsiblity (pp. 77-91). Routledge.
Hölscher, E. J. Mind Your Step: Mindfulness-Enhanced Sense of Agency and the Mediating Role of Interoceptive Awareness.
Moore, J. W. (2016). What is the sense of agency and why does it matter?. Frontiers in psychology, 7, 1272.
Turner, J. (2013). Compatibilism and the free will defense. Faith and Philosophy, 30(2), 125-137. Libet, B. (1999). Do we have free will?. Journal of consciousness studies, 6(8-9), 47-57.
Sappington, A. A. (1990). Recent psychological approaches to the free will versus determinism issue. Psychological Bulletin, 108(1), 19. Schopenhauer, A., Aquila, R., Carus, D., & Kolak, D. (2016). Arthur Schopenhauer: The World as Will and Presentation: Volume I. Routledge. Watson, G. (1987). Free action and free will. Mind, 96(382), 145-172.
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