Heisenberg Abstract

The Role of Objective Chance in the Brain and Behavior

Recent claims that freedom is an illusion or self-deceit have attracted much attention. Some scientists and philosophers maintain that a behavior causally determined by natural law can not be considered free, and a behavior that is released by chance is not free either.  Lawfulness and chance, they say, are an alternative that leaves no room for anything else. Therefore, if neither lawfulness nor chance allow for freedom, how could it possibly be real. This seemingly 'waterproof' argument is flawed. Chance and lawfulness are not a mutually exclusive alternative. To the contrary, they occur together and depend upon each other. Their specific interplay constitutes our world in which the future is open and creation has not ceased. It is in this world, where behavioral freedom has evolved.