Determinism

But I didn’t choose my beliefs and desires!

I’ve argued that you can choose of your own free will even though, given determinism, you can’t ever have chosen otherwise than you in fact did. I’ve suggested that you choose of your own free will whenever your choice can be explained, in a nonpathological way, by citing your beliefs and desires. Determinism allows and even facilitates such explanations.

But some people object that your choice can’t be free if it was necessitated by (conditions that include) your beliefs and desires because you didn’t choose your beliefs and desires. I reply, “Of course you didn’t. Your beliefs and desires are the basis for your choices, not the object of your choices.” Try choosing, right now, to believe that the total number of trees on earth is an even number. Try choosing, right now, to desire that your least favorite political party wins a majority in the next election.

You failed in both cases, yes? Unlike actions, beliefs and desires aren’t the sorts of things we can choose. Granted, we can take actions, such as seeking evidence, that may end up changing our beliefs on some topic. We can take actions, such as trying a new cuisine, that may end up changing our desires. But in each case it’s the actions that we choose, not the beliefs or the desires that may or may not result from them.