Do We Have Free Will? Joe Folley and Nathan Hawkins Debate Determinism, Choice and Moral Responsibility

About this episode

A philosophical debate on free will, determinism, and moral responsibility featuring Joe Folley and Nathan Hawkins.

Do we truly have free will, or are our choices determined by biology, upbringing and brain chemistry? In this episode of Unbelievable?, John Nelson hosts a lively philosophical dialogue between Joe Folley, host of Unsolicited Advice, and Dr Nathan Hawkins, a Christian philosopher who teaches at Cambridge. Together they explore libertarian free will, compatibilism and determinism, asking whether neuroscience has disproved human freedom, whether our thoughts are “just brain states”, and whether moral responsibility survives if forces beyond our control shape our choices. Along the way, they discuss Sam Harris, Robert Sapolsky, Alex O’Connor, Libet experiments, Peter Tse, moral blame, racism, brain tumours, pragmatism, idealism and the mystery of human agency. A thoughtful, accessible deep dive into freedom, responsibility and the self. Subscribe & Support 👉 Support thought-provoking conversations and help keep the show going at www.premierunbelievable.com/geolink/donate💡 🎧 Never miss an episode! Subscribe to the Unbelievable? podcast a www.premier.plus/unbelievable 🎙️ 🔗 Get bonus content, updates, fascinating articles, and early access to new episodes - absolutely free! Join…

People in this episode

Host: John Nelson

Guests: Joe Folley, Nathan Hawkins

Topics covered

• free will
• determinism
• moral responsibility
• neuroscience
• philosophy
• human agency

Keywords

• free will
• determinism
• moral responsibility
• neuroscience
• brain chemistry
• libertarian free will
• compatibilism
• human freedom

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Unsolicited Advice, Cambridge

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