If atheists don't believe in the soul, how can they believe in freewill?

Question

If there is no soul then our minds are just a product of natural selection. According to evolution, there is no separation between freewill and instinct.

Answer 1

The Canadian rock band "RUSH" has a song called Freewill. And that song exists, so Atheists can still believe in "freewill"

Thank you, good night.

Answer 2

I would think that they believe in Freewill in the absence of anything else. If there is no preordained future, and there is no supreme being dictating your life, everything you do is because of your free will. Instinct can be described as base reaction absent higher reasoning. Humans have the capacity for higher reasoning, and thus can overcome their instinctual reactions.

Absent any divine constraint on free will, it is easy to believe that everyone has it. The concept of free will as your describe it only has relevance to someone trying to fit their own actions into their religious worldview.

P.S. I am not an athiest, I am just answering your question.

Answer 3

I have yet to see anyone provide a good definition of "soul"? What is it really? Is it consciousness? Is it the body? Is it the brain? or is the way that chemicals are produced in the brain?

www.dictionary.com defines atheist as "a person who denies or disbelieves the existence of a supreme being or beings." I don't think it makes logical sense to jump from a disbelief in a supreme being or beings to disbelief in the existence of a soul or consciousness. Thus, the premise of your question is already flawed.

I don't believe the theory of natural selection precludes the prospect that humans (or other animals) have a "soul". The theory of natural selection provides an explanation for how certain traits develop.

I think that perhaps you should frame your question a little more clearly, specifying how the concepts you've mentioned are interrelated.

Answer 4

If there is no soul then our minds are just a product of natural selection. Right. However, the minds exist here and now, and make decisions based on information received by the senses and stored in memory.

May I recommend that you read such authors as Andrew Newberg and Bill Calvin, so as to get an idea of how the mind does what it does?

Answer 5

While I wouldn't go so far as saying that we do things by instinct, which is entirely genetically determined, I think that our genetic and environmental factors seem to leave no room for free will in the human thinking process.

This concept is only now making it into the general parlance. Many of your responders are only now being introduced to the question. Don't give them too hard a time. It is much easier to deny that something outside yourself exists than it is to deny your own experience is accurate. Everyone has an experience that feels like choice. The dilemma occurs when one closely examines the phenomenon of choice.

^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^

Answer 6

You make decisions with your brain and the knowledge you have in it. There is no separation between freewill and instinct. There are however varying levels of knowledge.

Answer 7

The problem of free will is the problem of whether rational agents exercise control over their own actions and decisions. Addressing this problem requires understanding the relation between freedom and causation, and determining whether or not the laws of nature are causally deterministic. The various philosophical positions taken differ on whether all events are determined or not—determinism versus indeterminism—and also on whether freedom can coexist with determinism or not—compatibilism versus incompatibilism.

Which is the long way of saying I'm not sure yet. I know magic pixie sky daddies are myth, though.

Answer 8

Where does evolution say there is no separation between free will and instinct? I am an atheist, and I have lots of free will. I consciously choose many of my actions.

By your logic, I must evolved the ability to program a computer, cook an omelet, and mow my lawn.

Answer 9

actually, evolution has created free will from instinct, as well as social structure, etc. It has been proven beneficial to have these things, so they have continued and prospered in higher species.
Also, an atheist doesn't believe in God, but that doesn't mean they don't necessarily believe in a soul.

Answer 10

freewills and souls do not go together... man you need to get laid. freewill can occur even with or without a soul. a soul is make believe. freewill is not.