College: Dartmouth
Certificate Price: $49
Length: 6 Weeks
Instructors: Peter Tse

Libertarian Free Will: Neuroscientific and Philosophical Evidence

In this course, we will dismantle arguments against free will, both from a philosophical and neuroscientific perspective. In supporting free will, we will tour philosophy, physics and neuroscience. We will rethink the neural code and discover that evolution has discovered a middle path between determinism and chance.

We will learn about the amplification of quantum domain indeterminism up to a level of indeterminacy in neural spike timing. We will see that outcomes that arise from internal operations in working memory, that afford imagination and deliberations about the future, can alter probabilities of future courses of action. I will argue that evolution has instantiated these conditions necessary for Libertarian Free Will in our brains.

Indeed, evolution has afforded us two kinds of Libertarian Free Will, one that we share with other animals, namely, the ability to weigh and select from among internally simulated options, and the other, unique to humans, namely, the capacity to imagine and then set about becoming of a new kind of chooser in the future.

Similar Courses

Computing for Data Analysis

The modern data analysis pipeline involves collection, preprocessing, storage, analysis, and interactive visualization of data. The goal of this course, part of the Analytics: Essential Tools and Methods MicroMasters program,…

Computer Hardware and Operating Systems

This is a self-paced course that provides an Introduction to Computer Hardware and Operating Systems This course will cover topics including: Fundamentals of system hardware Introduction to OS concepts OS…
C Programming: Advanced Data Types

C Programming: Advanced Data Types

In this course, part of the C Programming with Linux Professional Certificate program, you will define your own data types in C, and use the newly created types to more…
Saving Schools

Saving Schools

This course seeks to answer the question: how did a school system, once the envy of the world, stumble so that the performance in math, science, and reading of U.S.…
The Quantum World

The Quantum World

Welcome to The Quantum World! This course is an introduction to quantum chemistry: the application of quantum theory to atoms, molecules, and materials. You’ll learn about wavefunctions, probability, special notations,…
China and Communism

China and Communism

How did the Communists conquer China? What role does culture play? What are the successes and failures of the Chinese Communist Party after seizing power in 1949? What constitutes liberation?…
Big Data and Education

Big Data and Education

Online and software-based learning tools have been used increasingly in education. This movement has resulted in an explosion of data, which can now be used to improve educational effectiveness and…
Lending

Lending, Crowdfunding, and Modern Investing

In this course, you’ll learn the foundational theories behind robo-advising, crowdfunding, and marketplace lending, and how to apply these theories to optimize your investments. Professor David Musto of the Wharton…