Not to be confused with FreeWilly?.
To determine what Free Will is, you must know what 'will' is in the first place. 'Will' can be defined as a mental stream of decisions. A decision can be defined as a conclusion about something's value.
I'd say your description is accurate about decisions and will. It applies whether the "will" is exercised "freely" or not. Now, the question is "What is 'free?' A computer makes a stream of decisions. It reaches conclusions based on codified values. I would not classify computers as "free," though. FreeThinkers? contended that they think "freely" because they follow no "dogmas." I think they are on the right track, but even their definition falls a bit short of real "free" thinking, as most peoples' thinking is influenced by a number of issues. The thoughts of the perfectionist, for example, are highly influenced by emotional scars caused by a hard-to-please parent. Social doctrination runs deeply through our decision-making process. Brain chemistry has its impact as well. I will add a final influence that I have found to be true, but many will be understandably in dissagreement with -- our decision making process is highly influenced by our "sin nature." Most of these apply whether we are following genetic programming or we are "scintient" (sp?) beings. Some, like the sin nature, only apply to truly free-willed creatures. So, is there really "free" will? Probably not in full. Are we free-er than animals and computers. I think so. Free enough to be held accountable for our actions. If it's genetics, how do we justify legal punishment? How do we justify the death penalty, or just Man Slaughter charges? BrucePennington
Some people think Free Will means something mystical like 'freedom from the laws of physics' or even 'freedom from determinism' (ie, 'freedom from history') as opposed to simply "not in prison".
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