Free Will and Randomness

Since the concept of fundamental randomness arose in the previous post, I'd like to discuss a related concept, the notion that "free will" is somehow denied in a universe lacking randomness. The basic idea seems to be that if there is no randomness, then strict determinism will remove the possibility of free will, and reduce all consciousness to preprogrammed automatons. Indeed, it is my understanding that this view has been expressed by more than one theologian ever since the time of Newton. Some theologians seem to have welcomed the rise of the orthodox interpretation of quantum mechanics because they felt it somehow reintroduced a possibility for free will in the world. (I can't find any specific references right now).

I feel any such fear of "determinism" is misguided. To me, the flaw arises from assuming that some utterly separate higher law or power must be behind a universe that is deterministic, and that this amounts to a denial of any free will to the occupants of that world. But I don't agree with that underlying assumption.

Instead, I visualize the souls that inhabit the universe as being an integral part of the higher power and laws behind the universe. As such, they are part of the "determining" spirit, and thus freely participate in the determination of the resulting creation. By this process, they retain free will. Furthermore, I perceive this as an organic four dimensional process (time as the fourth dimension), not one limited to the three dimensions of space at separate instants in time. Thus, even if the future were to be revealed as "definite" (by physical law, or even "fate" and prophecy), that "definiteness" was achieved with the cooperation and input of the souls involved, still acting "freely" across the spacetime continuum. I suppose this viewpoint again involves the idea that time itself may be in some way an illusion. It may also be more feasible in a continuous field model of nature, as opposed to a discrete particle model.

I hope that all makes sense. I had to wrestle with those issues when I first studied physics, and heard the objections that determinism removes free will. The above is my own response, and arose because I personally disliked the orthodox interpretation of quantum mechanics, but I believed in free will. To reconcile those viewpoints, I contemplated the above "organic" outlook on free will and determinism.

The other side of the coin is that fundamental randomness in nature is often no longer described so much as justifying free will as it is used to picture creation as mindless, and even pointless. I think that was always the trap lurking in an attempt to defend free will via a belief in fundamental randomness in nature.