On Free Will

In recent months I've been hard on free will and on those who place a lot of theological weight on that notion. Given my criticisms, I thought I'd briefly sketch how I think about human freedom.

To repeat my criticism, I don't think "free will" means "causally unconstrained." I don't see how it is possible for the human brain--the apparatus of human volition--to step outside the causal flux. That ability, as Harry Frankfurt points out, is a question of power, not freedom. Humans are not omnipotent. We are finite, causally bounded creatures. Consequently, we are unable to step outside the system.

So for me, free will isn't about causality. It is, rather, more akin to what we might call political freedom. Emancipation.

There are two aspects, positive and negative, related to this notion. The first is a negative. If I lock you up in a jail you are not free. If I let you out you become free. Freedom here is liberation, a freedom from.

I think this frame on freedom fits well with biblical metaphors. In the bible human freedom isn't about causality. It's about slavery. Freedom, therefore, is emancipation, being set free from our bondage to sin and death.

But this liberation isn't from causality into non-causality. It is, rather, becoming set free to become bound to a new Master. One sort of causality is exchanged for another. We become "slaves of Christ."

If being released from jail is an example of negative freedom, freedom from the jail, then education is a good example of positive freedom, freedom to.

For example, one of the reasons we educate ourselves and our children is to increase our opportunities, to increase our choices. We become free to do this or free to do that. Thus, we become more free with education. Our horizons expand. We have greater knowledge and skill. As they say, "Knowledge is power." That power is the expansion of choice. What was once closed to us is now open. Less a freedom from than a freedom to.

And education isn't the only factor here. Virtue is intimately associated with freedom. Think of self-control. While it seems that self-control--saying "No" to the self--is a form of self-limitation it is actually a form of self-liberation. Contrast the addict or the impulsive shopper with the self-controlled person. Who is more free? The person pushed and pulled by compulsions, cravings, and obsessions? Or the person able to master herself? In short, virtue--the Fruits of the Spirit--creates freedom. In becoming more Christ-like be become more human and more free.

The best capsule summary of how I see freedom is a notion I've borrowed from Buddhism. Specifically, free will is less a matter of choice than a matter of skill. That's the best summary I have. Free will is skill. And the greater the skill the greater the freedom.

And this dramatically alters how I approach my spiritual life. I don't see myself as an omnipotent ego standing outside the causal flux making choices. Rather, I see myself as engaged in practices to increase my skill in the faith, to become a skilled Christian. And as my skill increases so does my freedom.