The (Neuro)science of Free Will

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Written by:
Elijah Lagman, Year 13

For centuries, humanity has relied on philosophers to ponder on the topic of free will. Volition (free will) is defined as the “capacity of rational agents to choose a course of action from among various alternatives.” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) This age-long quagmire may well have existed since the idea of God came into question. The philosopher Immanuel Kant stated in The Critique of Pure Reason that “[One of the] unavoidable problems of mere pure reason [is the] freedom of will”. This, however, did not stop him from believing in it. It simply occurred to him that “[we] must… abolish knowledge, to make room for belief”. Science owes their method to the philosophers’ systematic organization of facts but have diverted from pure reasoning (rationalism) to relying on observable quantifiable data. It therefore follows that most scientists would stray from the almost experimentally impossible concept of volition. However, the advancement of brain-imaging technology led a few pioneering scientists to take technology beyond its limits and find a cause for volition, if it exists.

In 1981, Libet asked his participants to flick their wrist whenever they felt like it using an EEG and found that before participants were even aware of the urge, an electron potential has already been fired. This implies that volition may be an illusion and all of our conscious decisions may have already been predetermined. We simply believe we are making decisions on our own accord that may then have profound effects on ethics and law. According to Bandura, volition is affected by our intentions, forethought (goal directed behaviour), self-reactiveness and self-reflectiveness (Social Cognitive Theory, Bandura, 2008).

This suggests a further link that there may be a neural basis for volition within the brain. Schultz et al. (1992) trained Macaca fascicularis monkeys to carry out specific behavioural tasks each day for a few hours (Apicella et al. 1992), recording neuro-electrical activity within the basal ganglia. Shultz et al., (1995) found that the results “indicate that the basal ganglia are involved when intentions to obtain goal objects lead to actions directed at these outcomes.” The basal ganglion is a component in all primates but we don’t view all primates to possess volition. This being said, humans have evolved their brains to include the outer layers called the neocortex (literally, ‘new bark’), an area known to perform more complex functions that primates cannot normally accomplish. Hence, these findings further suggest that the basal ganglia may be a component basis for intentions that the human neocortex interacts with in order to achieve volition.
        However, there are flaws in these connections. Bandura criticizes Libet, arguing that volition is not directed by urges to flick one’s wrists but rather, has a deeper criteria defined by his social cognitive theory (SCT). Libet himself also criticizes his own study and suggests from further studies that we may be limited to having free will only to veto decisions already made by the brain. This interaction between different disciplines (Libet’s neuroscience, Bandura’s sociocognitive psychology and Shultz’s neurobiology) argues that volition is a trans-disciplinary issue that needs to be explored further. So far, we found that there may be a neural basis for free will within the brain’s basal ganglia but must consider that many more factors also contribute to we can surely define as volition. We are moving towards a scientific explanation for free will but aren’t quite there yet but it’s great to see that science is finally starting to acknowledge free will as scientifically valid for exploring and evaluating.


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