It is said that everything we do is determined by the laws of nature, and therefore we aren’t really free. But defying this very idea is the sense of freedom we all feel on a daily basis. If we are not really free, how do we explain this sense?
Now, I know some might want to point out that QM offers us a possible way out of this paradox, and it goes by the name of Quantum Consciousness. As much as this theory may or may not bear credibility, I’d like to propose a solution to the problem that doesn’t appeal to QM.
First, what does it mean to say we are determined by the laws of nature? Is there some separate body of laws beyond the universe controlling everything that happens therein, including our actions? Or does it simply mean that all things in the universe, all participants in the events that go on therein, are enforcing the laws of nature from within themselves and onto all others? In other words, as much as everything in the universe is controlled by the laws of nature, each thing in turns becomes the controller, passing on the law to all other things it comes in contact with.
This, essentially, is a cyclical model of determinism, which means that every component in the universe controls, and is controlled by, every other component. This is to be contrasted with a hierarchical model, which means that every component in the universe is controlled by a separate body of laws that stand above them and overpower them.
If a cyclical model is correct, then maybe the reason we feel free, despite the deterministic picture of the universe, is because as much as we are controlled by other things in the universe, we in turn control still other things. We are not just law abiders but law enforcers as well. The feeling of freedom is the feeling of being a law enforcer.
I don’t think being a law abider is even something we can ‘feel’. I think that insofar as the law controls us, it only does so in giving us the mental states that drive us to be law enforcers - mental states such as desire, intentions, plans, drive, emotions, pains, pleasures - all the things that make us want to enforce the law upon the world in one manner or another. So it doesn’t end up feeling like being controlled but just having desires, intentions, plans, etc.
Of course, one draw back to this argument is that we really aren’t ultimately free from the laws of nature since obviously we’re still being controlled by everything that precedes us in the chain of cause-and-effect. But what I wanted to account for was not that we actually are free, but why we feel free. In a sense, I guess this is just a different rendition of compatibilism, but I think it’s a unique rendition that I personally don’t remember ever coming across.
Thoughts? Comments? Objections?