What is one to make of the metaphor “struggle of conscience” after a reductionist account of free will? I find most of the standard LW take on free will very persuasive, but it doesn’t seem to dissolve the subjective sense that I have of myself as being a brain that sometimes makes an ‘effort’ to choose one option over another.
When I decided what college to go to, there was no struggle of conscience—I was simply curious about which option would be more fun and more productive for me, and striving to sort through all of the relevant evidence to maximize my chances of correctly identifying that option.
On the other hand, when I, e.g., decide whether to hit the snooze button, there is a blatant struggle of conscience—I am not curious at all about whether it would be more fun and productive for me to wake up; I know to a virtual certainty that it would in fact be more fun and productive for me to wake up, and yet it still requires a prolonged and intense effort, as if against some internal enemy, to accomplish the task. What is all of this, in reductionist terms?
What is one to make of the metaphor “struggle of conscience” after a reductionist account of free will? I find most of the standard LW take on free will very persuasive, but it doesn’t seem to dissolve the subjective sense that I have of myself as being a brain that sometimes makes an ‘effort’ to choose one option over another.
When I decided what college to go to, there was no struggle of conscience—I was simply curious about which option would be more fun and more productive for me, and striving to sort through all of the relevant evidence to maximize my chances of correctly identifying that option.
On the other hand, when I, e.g., decide whether to hit the snooze button, there is a blatant struggle of conscience—I am not curious at all about whether it would be more fun and productive for me to wake up; I know to a virtual certainty that it would in fact be more fun and productive for me to wake up, and yet it still requires a prolonged and intense effort, as if against some internal enemy, to accomplish the task. What is all of this, in reductionist terms?