I have been having conversations with some friends about the existence of non-existence of free will.

The conversation was begun, in a cliched fashion, on Facebook. A poet of my acquaintance was arguing against free will and in favor of determinism.

While initially participating in the Facebook thread, I switched to a longer form discussion and wrote a letter to a friend of mine with a philosophical bent, but also with far more of a scientific bent than I.

My initial thesis was that, scientifically (at least based on my limited understanding of science), was that determinism is a powerful argument. In truth, I felt trapped by it. The argument for free will that I could see successfully contradicting that was a theistic god.

In Jamesian, pragmatic terms, I agreed that we must act as if free will exists. But once one moves beyond pragmatism into more metaphysical questions, I had trouble seeing free will exist except as something granted by a beneficent god.

When I met with my friend, I was surprised to find him not being an advocate for scientific determinism. For the most part, he felt a deep need to believe in free will. The philosophical basis was primarily pragmatism, though he also provided me a possible, scientific way out in the idea of “emergent phenomena.” I would explain it better, but frankly, I am just now reading up on it myself.