My Last, Final and Ultimate Word on the Free Will Debate

I don't know about your country, but here in Germany debates about whether or not humans have a free will have been all the rage in the last few years. A common format is a neuroscientist and a philospher talking past each other.

The answer is actually pretty simple.

If by free will you mean that there are thought processes not caused by biochemistry - i.e., the idea that there is The Ghost in the Machine - then of course there is no free will. If you believe otherwise, you might as well believe in god.

If by free will you mean that humans have the capacity to choose between different courses of action based on the anticipated consequences of those courses of action, then of course there is a free will, as we all know.

That's case closed in my book.