The Correlation Between Conscious Choices And Action

Benjamin Libet, a pioneering scientist, preformed several experiments attempting to understand and analyze the correlation between conscious choices and action. He did his experiments based on activity in the brain and the actual action. [2] Although different scientists interpreted his results in different ways, he summarized that his findings demonstrated that that action was being conducted right before the physical entity was aware of that action. In addition to this, he also proposed that although our decisions may not be our own, because of our intricate processing systems, we are able to pick between several options and suppress those from the subconscious we do not desire to fulfill. [2] His view on free will is one I am in†¦show more content†¦Events that occur and actions taken are simply the result of an ongoing, necessary causal chain. As Democritus states: â€Å"Causal deterministic laws control the motion of atoms and that everything, including human minds, consists merely of atoms in a void.† [1] We are creatures in a series of inevitable actions with a predictable, single future looming. Leucippus, a fellow of Democritus claims, â€Å"nothing occurs at random, but everything for a reason and by necessity.† [1] However, these causal chains need to begin somewhere, and this start of a series of events is what Aristotle calls â€Å"archai†. [8] Indeterminists state that there can be certain events that occur without a cause, and this chance allows for multiple outcomes that can be chosen from. Compatibilists on the other hand, is the belief that will and moral responsibility can be accepted and free as long as it is part of the causal chain. This theory focuses on the differences between the freedom of will and the freedom of action and the causal relationship between the two that permits acknowledgement of our own decisions and free will. However, both camps agree on the fact that actions are willed. There are se veral camps that are either for or against free will in addition to compatibilists being for and determinists being against. Epiphenomenalism is a theory that strongly opposes the presence of free will. This concept essentially states that all mental reactions and behaviors are a