"Free Will and Human Life" with Alan E. Johnson

Do we have free will? How is it defined? Is it based on religion, science, or philosophy? Does it require an immaterial soul? What does neuroscience have to say about it? What about quantum mechanics, chaos theory, and complexity theory? Is the academically popular doctrine called “compatibilism” or “soft determinism” semantically and logically coherent?

In this lecture, based on his recently published book Free Will and Human Life, Alan Johnson surveys representative arguments against and for free will. He then presents his own views on the controversy. A question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation.

Alan E. Johnson, a PFC member and retired attorney, is an independent philosopher and historian whose previous books include The First American Founder: Roger Williams and Freedom of Conscience (2015) and The Electoral College: Failures of Original Intent and Proposed Constitutional and Statutory Changes for Direct Popular Vote, Second Edition (2021). Free Will and Human Life is the first book in his planned philosophical trilogy on free will, ethics, and political philosophy.