ROBERT SAPOLSKY or THE ILLUSION OF FREE WILL

ENJOY PHILOSOPHY MEETS WEEKLY EVERY SUNDAY BETWEEN 11.30 AND 14.30 AT EDUARDO VII PARK, HERE:\ https://goo.gl/maps/5e3jKFEweXkNvDdK6

ITS THE GARDEN BETWEEN THE “CARLOS LOPES PAVILLION” AND THE “PRAIA NO PARQUE” RESTAURANT AT EDUARDO VII PARK.

THIS IS A GROUP FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN ENJOYING PHILOSOPHY.

NO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE IS REQUIRED.

ONLY ETERNAL CURIOSITY AND THE PLEASURE OF KNOWLEDGE.

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We will learn, debate, enjoy and investigate philosophers and diverse themes from the philosophical perspective. Each reunion is structured as a conversation among all attendees about that day s philosopher softly moderated by the organizer. The conversation will kick-off from the very brief suggested reading providing easy access to all attendees both to the philosopher and the conversation.

Let´s be greek and dive today on…

Robert Sapolsky, the American academic and neuroscientist leading the contemporary vision that defends a full-fledge Deterministic position based on strictly scientific reasons.

Drawing on Neuroscience, Genetics, Psychology, Evolutionary Biology and Physics, Sapolsky argues that everything we think, feel and do at any point in time is fully determined by the total ensemble of physical quantities that describe reality, not only at that point in time, but also by those same quantities as they were at any point in the past.

In particular, he rejects the notion that our past history could have been anything other than what it was and that our future has yet to be written. As a consequence, he also denies that willpower and personal effort can escape causal determination.

This raises an important question: if nobody ultimately chooses the person they become, can anyone truly deserve praise, blame or punishment?
What becomes of moral responsibility and criminal justice? And would abandoning the idea of Free Will undermine our sense of agency, meaning and possibility?

Sapolsky addresses these objections and argues that abandoning Free Will would allow us to build a more humane and just society.

We will explore Sapolsky’s central arguments and their philosophical implications, all of which are laid out in his book 'Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will (2023)', along with his paper 'Life without free will: Does it preclude possibilities? (2024)'.

Lets think with Robert...

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