Evolving Freedom: The Metaphysics of Free Will

The history of philosophy, as far back as one would wish to take it, is littered with theories, critiques and counter-theories on the free will of human beings and its relation to a broader explanation of reality. Despite free will being one of the most thought about topics in philosophy, a consensus on its existence, its relation to laws of nature and more has yet to be reached. One of the greatest challenges of modern times is reconciling the experience that is free will with the science that is “laws of nature” and evolution. The goal here, then, is to reconcile both scientific “laws of nature”, which includes biological evolution, with free will and give an account of how free will arose out of the evolution of life. In order to accomplish this mission it will first be important to explore what exactly laws of nature really are. Once that is completed, the account of evolutionary free will, including new thoughts on evolution itself, will present a viable case for the free will of at least humanity, if not much more.

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