Is Our Will Truly Free?

Do you create your own destiny? Or does the universe deal you a hand that you have to play with?

This series will stimulate your mind through a collection of profound and timeless questions about free will and determinism. As you analyze these competing philosophies, you will find that every answer raises fascinating new questions about morality, fate, consciousness, and the existence of a higher power.

In this series of three episodes, host Dr. Robert Lawrence Kuhn welcomes a total of 18 guest experts to discuss free will. Each episode is crafted as a series of one-on-one interviews.

You’ll join some of the world’s leading philosophers, including John Rogers Searle of UC Berkeley, Ned Block of NYU, Peter van Inwagen of Notre Dame, and Daniel Clement Dennett III of Tufts. Within the field of philosophy of mind, Block has made important contributions to matters of consciousness and cognitive science. Meanwhile, van Inwagen is a leading figure in contemporary metaphysics, philosophy of religion, and philosophy of action.

Of course, recent neuroscientific discoveries only fan the flames of the philosophical debate over free will versus determinism. Most scientific thought is predicated on the assumption that every action is determined by a prior action. But if that’s true, what does it imply about free will?

The implications of this debate are far-reaching and potentially paradigm-shifting. Now is your chance to unpack the details with the greatest minds the world has to offer.

Note: Episodes One and Three—Is Free Will an Illusion? and Why is Free Will a Mystery?—were funded in part by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation.

Learn about downloadable programs.