What is free will?

Answer 1

Free will is the belief or the philosophical doctrine that holds that humans have the power to choose their own deeds. (The concept has also been extended on occasion to animals or artificial intelligence in computers.) Such a belief has been supported as important to moral judgment by many religious authorities and criticized as a form of individualist ideology by writers such as Spinoza and Karl Marx. As typically used, the phrase has both objective and subjective connotations, in the former case indicating the performance of an action by an agent that is not completely conditioned by antecedent factors, and in the latter case the agent's perception that the action was incepted under his or her own volition.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Will

Answer 2

Free will and conformity is the difference between making choices and having choices made for you.

An example: Why do most students who hate high school, love college?

High School is imposed upon us, where College is chosen. Well except for those whom have parents that impose college on them.

As for religious beliefs: The entire conflict between Satan and God can be summed up with this understanding.

Lucifer fell from the Grace of God because Lucifer felt that if God was all powerful, he would have made humanity already worshiping him and doing exactly what God wants in the first place instead of there being a hell for those that don't want to conform. God gave us Free Will so that we can choose what we want. He wants us to love him because that is what we choose to do, not because the love is imposed on us.

If you paid for someone to love you, would that person love you the same as a person that wants to love you?

The person that has the freedom of choice will love you far more deeply than one that doesn't have a choice. That would be why God grants us Free Will.

Answer 3

Free will......god given? No, I don't beleive so. To me free will is the right that I inherit as a human being to make the decisions that will affect me and my society in the World. Free will is like a free market economy - each person is allowed to decide their own 'price' and so outcome or 'profit'.
It is what diffrentiates me from every other being on the planet and yet at the same time connects me to them. Strange statement but very true if u look at the fact that apart from blood - free will is the only other unquestionable common thing we have.
ANyways...thats what free will is to me.

Answer 4

From what I understand, free will is whether or not you have a freedom of choice and that expression can be applied to almost any topic. From a psychological stand point it might be, do we as human beings really have free will, in that are our behaviors are ultimately defined by our genetics and therefore people cannot change, or rather, are we more than simply genetics and as that case may be psychologists and other professionals can help people change for the better for example.

Answer 5

Free Will” is a philosophical term of art for a particular sort of capacity of rational agents to choose a course of action from among various alternative

Answer 6

Free Will was a movie about a whale... Wait, that's Free Willy.

Answer 7

its the film where the whale jumps over the kid at the end
no seriously free wills the thing god gave us that permits us to do what we want
shame it dont exist no more

Answer 8

Simply, the ability to make conscious decisions in regard to one's own actions. Not to be confused with instinctual decisions.
The ability to choose the path that you follow.

Answer 9

Doing things, making decisions for yourself using your judgment and understanding and not under the leading of someone else.

Answer 10

Doesn't Exist.