Are we responsible?

[Steve Walker]

I guess the difference in religious and atheist thinking would be whether one believes that the mind is more than an emergent property of brain physiology - although I'm not sure how clear a distinction is made between the religious idea of a soul and the observable phenomenon of mind?

[corydoras]

I'm not really taking this from an atheist position or from a religious one. Many neurologists think that all the decisions that we think we make of our own "free will" have already been made by our subconscious minds before our concious minds, have even had the idea, that you "free will" is just an illusion.

Edited December 12, 2013 by corydoras

[RUDD]

I'm not really taking this from an atheist position or from a religious one. Many neurologists think that all the decisions that we think we make of our own "free will" have already been made by our subconscious minds before our concious minds, have even had the idea, that you "free will" is just an illusion.

 

So part of our own brain made the decision for us before another part but we still made the decision whether we like it or not

[corydoras]

So part of our own brain made the decision for us before another part but we still made the decision whether we like it or not

No that is the illusion part. You might think that you just decided to have a cup of the but your subconscious mind had already made the decision some time before. Whether you like it or not most of the decisions you make are not made consciously.

 

http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2013/03/25/yet-another-experiment-eroding-free-will/

Edited December 12, 2013 by corydoras

[Steve Walker]

You might think that you just decided to have a cup of the but your subconscious mind had already made the decision some time before.

Is the subconscious mind not part of the self?

[corydoras]

Is the subconscious mind not part of the self?

Define the self.

[gozzer]

No that is the illusion part. You might think that you just decided to have a cup of the but your subconscious mind had already made the decision some time before. Whether you like it or not most of the decisions you make are not made consciously.

 

http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2013/03/25/yet-another-experiment-eroding-free-will/

 

How would that stand up in a court of law? "I couldn't help myself, my subconscious 'me' made the decision for the 'real' me".

 

John.

[corydoras]

How would that stand up in a court of law? "I couldn't help myself, my subconscious 'me' made the decision for the 'real' me".

 

John.

Have a Google about and have a look at some of the research going on in this field. If it turns out to be true then it could have serious implications for the criminal justice system. If it is true, it's true whether you like it or not.

 

Another link for you

http://cognitivephilosophy.net/consciousness/free-will-is-not-what-you-think-it-is/

Edited December 12, 2013 by corydoras

[Steve Walker]

Define the self.

Personally, I would define it as the entirety of the mind, and the mind as the emergent properties of the brain, but I got the impression that you would not?

[chesters1]

Have a Google about and have a look at some of the research going on in this field. If it turns out to be true then it could have serious implications for the criminal justice system. If it is true, it's true whether you like it or not.

 

Another link for you

http://cognitivephilosophy.net/consciousness/free-will-is-not-what-you-think-it-is/

Define true