Biomaterial Database

The implications of advances in neuroscience for freedom of the will. 2007

Hilary Bok

Department of Philosophy and Berman Institute of Bioethics, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. hbok@jhu.edu

Some neuroscientists argue that advances in neuroscience threaten to undermine our freedom. The argument here is that those concerns are instances of a more general concern about the compatibility of freedom with causal determinism, and that denying that our choices are fully determined under causal laws presents a different set of problems for the claim that we have free will. An alternative account of freedom is presented, consistent with determinism in general, and with advances in neuroscience in particular.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D009488	Neurosciences	The scientific disciplines concerned with the embryology, anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, pharmacology, etc., of the nervous system.	Neuroscience
D001921	Brain	The part of CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM that is contained within the skull (CRANIUM). Arising from the NEURAL TUBE, the embryonic brain is comprised of three major parts including PROSENCEPHALON (the forebrain); MESENCEPHALON (the midbrain); and RHOMBENCEPHALON (the hindbrain). The developed brain consists of CEREBRUM; CEREBELLUM; and other structures in the BRAIN STEM.	Encephalon
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D026684	Personal Autonomy	Self-directing freedom and especially moral independence. An ethical principle holds that the autonomy of persons ought to be respected. (Bioethics Thesaurus)	Autonomy, Personal,Free Will,Self Determination

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