Do We Have Free Will?

Do we have free will?

Well, before we can answer whether or not we do, we need to define what free will is. Let’s start with what it is not:

Choosing between a cinnamon donut and a chocolate donut is NOT a function of free will. It is a matter of preference. Unless you know that someone else greatly prefers one over the other, and you choose the other one. (We’ll get back to this later.)

As a matter of fact, over 99% of all decisions made are not a function of free will, putting aside the decision not to exercise free will before making the decision.

So which decisions are a function of free will? Those made knowing that the choice is between right and wrong (or between good and evil, or as Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler, who wrote extensively on this topic, put it, between truth and falsehood). If you recognize that one thing is the right thing to do (or not do) while the other is the wrong thing to do (or not do), and there is an internal struggle over which way to proceed, choosing one over the other might be a function of free will.

We all have preferences. And we all have biases. Our genetics make us predisposed towards certain things; it is our “nature.” Our life experiences shape who we are as well; it is our “nurture.” All of these things contribute to the starting point of the decision-making process.

But that is only the starting point, the point at which our physical bodies “decide” what it wants. This “decision” can be measured scientifically, and is almost always the final decision. But not always.

Before we carry out that “decision,” in our example above, choosing one donut over the other, we have the ability to override it. (Believe it or not, I am oversimplifying things a bit here, and those familiar with Rabbi Dessler’s concept of the ever-changing range of free will understand that I am not getting into that here.) Let’s examine how, or why, one might consider overriding the preliminary “decision” of eating the chocolate donut rather than the cinnamon one, even if he or she prefers the chocolate one.

If this was occurring in a complete vacuum, where one donut will not be eaten by anyone, and the only question is which one to eat, with the caloric content being the same (so choosing one over the other is not a health-conscious decision), there is no “right” or “wrong” involved. The decision is not a function of free will, and there would be no reason to override it.

Of course donuts are not too healthy, so there might be a valid reason to override the decision to eat any donut. But that decision (whether or not to eat a donut) will only be a function of free will if there is a recognition that it is better not to have a donut, coupled with a desire to have one, and an internal struggle whether or not to. (The body itself trying to decide whether its preference to have a donut is stronger than its preference to be healthy, or vice versa, does not qualify as “free will.” It is only after the body has determined what its preference is, and the mind can then evaluate that decision to determine if it is the right decision, that free will enters the picture.) Our example, though, is the decision to choose one flavor over the other, not whether or not to eat a donut.

Things very rarely occur in a vacuum, so most likely the uneaten donut will be eaten by someone else. Making the unselfish decision to eat the less-preferred donut so that some else can have the one they prefer may be a function of free will, as might be the decision to eat the preferred donut despite knowing that the other person prefers it as well. Or, one might choose not to even consider the ramifications of which donut to take, which, in and of itself might be a function of free will, but then the decision as to which donut to choose is not.

The bottom line is that (1) almost all decisions people make are not a function of free will (so “proving” that any of them are not does not disprove the concept), and that (2) free will only enters the picture after the body makes its initial decision, when it has the opportunity to override it. These opportunities are usually few and far between, so we need to take advantage of them, as these are our only real opportunities to become better than what nature (and nurture) has set us up for.