Summary: I did not come to this conference of my own free will because free will is an illusion. Plenty of evidence from neuroscience suggests that there is no persisting ‘me’ who could exert this mysterious power. Libet’s experiments on the timing of voluntary actions throw free will into doubt; the neuroscience of volition reveals the brain areas responsible for decision-making and self-control; and research by Wegner shows how the feeling of being responsible for an action depends on post-hoc attributions based on sequence, similarity and timing. So if our intuitions are not to be trusted, how should we live our lives? Many people reject the traditional idea of free will but still say they must live ‘as if’ they have free will. Otherwise, they claim, society would disintegrate and all hell break loose. I disagree and will discuss ways of living a moral and happy life without believing in free will.
