Christian List on Free Will

Mary Midgley didn't begin publishing until she was 59 years old, but nevertheless made a significant impact and had a distinctive approach. In this episode of Philosophy Bites Ellie Robson discusses some of her key ideas about our relationship with other animals. 

Many people think philosophical discucssion is a luxury in times of conflict, but the Palestinian philosopher Sari Nusseibeh is more optimistic. In this episode of Philosophy Bites, recorded in early 2025, he explains why. 

Democracy is about acting as a group, but, surprisingly, Robert Talisse argues that what it needs to function well is a degree of solitude for citizens. In-group and out-group dynamics mean that individuals become vulnerable to being pushed towards more extreme views than they wo ... Show More

What is the relationship between free will and religion? Historically, theistic religions have been dogged by questions concerning the nature of human agency. Do we make the choices we have in life because we can freely choose or does God somehow map life for us? If we don’t have ... Show More

Freedom sounds great as an idea. Who doesn't want to be free to do what they want? But when you take a closer look, freedom becomes more complicated. What does it really mean to be free — and how free can we be? On this episode, we'll look at freedom from different perspectives. ... Show More

For many Western Christians, materialism has transformed our wants into needs and distorted our view of biblical Christianity. How can we be free? 

Join me as I have a conversation with @CosmicSkeptic about free will, and whether or not free will is dependent on the existence of God. 

Notable atheists like Sam Harris and Daniel Dennett claim we live in a deterministic universe and that free will is an illusion. But does losing human free will pose a problem for justice, morality and even the very act of reasoning itself? Dan Barker of the Freedom From Religion ... Show More

We want to win and we don't want to lose. The problem is that there is no winning without losing. There is no good without bad, no right without wrong. This is the basic understanding of non-duality. We are free to be what we are free to be but that also means we are not free to ... Show More

In part two of my discussion with Dr. Michael R. Egnor, we continue our discussion about neurophilosophy.In this episode, Dr. Egnor brings attention to the importance of embracing the free will of humanity.Dr. Egnor is an award-winning brain surgeon and a research professor of Ne ... Show More

Your mother's socio-economic status at the time of your birth. Whether your ancestors raised crops or led camels through the desert. The smell of the room you're in when you're making a decision--all of these things, says neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky, combine to affect your beh ... Show More

In the 500th edition of the programme, Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the philosophical idea of free will.Free will - the extent to which we are free to choose our own actions - is one of the most absorbing philosophical problems, debated by almost every great thinker of the ... Show More