Free Will and Evolution
Translator: Alice E. Olsson
Author: Ingvar Johansson
Publisher: ProtoSociology – Publications on Contemporary Philosophy
Year of Publication: 2023
Free Will and Evolution defends the old notion of free will, according to which such a will is incompatible with determinism and not identical with mere indeterminism.
The defense is made from an entirely secular evolutionary perspective. The theory of evolution – properly considered – is argued to be fully compatible with a belief in in a little bit of free will. Moreover, it is claimed that a complete denial normally contains a kind of contradiction. Not a logical contradiction, but a so-called performative contradiction. The denial argued for contradicts the very existence of argumentative discourses.