Does Neuroscience Leave Room for Free Will?. Issue 9 (September 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Mitchell, Kevin J.
• Is Part Of: Trends in neurosciences. Volume 41:Issue 9(2018)
• Page Start: 573
• Page End: 576
• Publication Date: 2018-09
• Subjects: agency -- emergence -- reductionism -- determinism -- compatibilism -- meaning; Neurology -- Periodicals; Neurophysiology -- Periodicals; Neurobiology -- Periodicals; 612.8
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2018.05.008
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0166-2236

Abstract

Abstract : A reductively mechanistic approach to neuroscience suggests that low-level physical laws determine our actions and that mental states are epiphenomena. In this scheme there seems to be little room for free will or genuine agency. I argue here that physical indeterminacy provides room for the information entailed in patterns of neuronal firing – the mental content of beliefs, goals, and intentions – to have real causal power in decision-making.