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Is free will just wishful thinking?

A large number of philosophers and scientists strongly suggest free will is an inherently flawed and incoherent concept. Is all of life within seen and unseen tramlines?

A large number of philosophers and scientists strongly suggest free will is an inherently flawed and incoherent concept. Is all of life within seen and unseen tramlines?
This scepticism is driven by advances in neuroscience in the past number of decades...that our decisions, our choices, are all determined by the laws of physics.
If that is true, if it is shown that free will is non-existent- what would it mean for us as individuals, for society, our moral compass, the existence of civilisation?
Presenter Audrey Carville in conversation with philosopher Dr Rebecca Bamford and theologian Professor Tina Beattie.
Also on the programme; 100 years after WB Yeats received the Nobel Prize for Literature, why does his work endure in poetry, song, film and speech when that of so many of his contemporaries has faded away?
Poet Gerald Dawe and Professor Fran Brearton join the debate with a little Yeats' music courtesy of the Pogues.

1 hour, 27 minutes

Last on

Sun 3 Dec 2023 08:30

Broadcast

  • Sun 3 Dec 2023 08:30