Episode 4

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Published on:

23rd Sep 2021

Free Will (or Not?), Part 2: Choosing "Not"

What if it turns out we do not have free will? What would that mean? How would it work? And why, then, is it so important that we THINK we have free will?

Of course, I believe we do very much have the capacity for free will - even if it does not work exactly the way we assume it does. But examining the alternative is important to our overall understanding.

Also: there's a SWEET "Wizard of Oz"-reference pun. You'll be bummed if you miss it.

***SEASON ONE READINGS AND SOURCES***

A Philosophical Essay on Probabilities, by Pierre-Simon Laplace

Consciousness Explained, by Daniel C. Dennett (Paul Weiner, Illustrator)

Elbow Room: The Varieties of Free Will Worth Wanting, by Daniel C. Dennett

Freedom Evolves, by Daniel C. Dennett

Meditations on First Philosophy, by René Descartes

Mystery of the Mind: A Critical Study of Consciousness and the Human Brain, by Wilder Penfield

Subjectivity, Realism, and Postmodernism: The Recovery of the World in Recent Philosophy, by Frank B. Farrell

Copyright 2025 Cori Di Biase

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About the Podcast

A Freedom of Ideas
Considering the Philosophy, Literature, and History of Liberty
The idea of freedom is central to the way we live our lives. Some of us say we would die to defend it, and many have. To explain who and what we are, we first call ourselves “free”.

But for as often as we say the word, do we understand what freedom is?

We will explore the idea of freedom through the lens of philosophy, history, literature… and whatever else we can find to learn from. I hope you’ll join the conversation.

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Cori DiBiase