Free will is the ability of agents to make choices free from certain kinds of constraints. The existence of free will and its exact nature and definition have long been debated in philosophy. Historically, the constraint of dominant concern has been the metaphysical constraint of determinism. The two main positions within that debate are metaphysical libertarianism, the claim that determinism is false and thus that free will exists (or is at least possible); and hard determinism, the claim that determinism is true and thus that free will does not exist.

Both of these positions, which agree that causal determination is the relevant factor in the question of free will, are classed as incompatibilists. Those who deny that determinism is relevant are classified as compatibilists, and offer various alternative explanations of what constraints are relevant, such as physical constraints (e.g. chains or imprisonment), social constraints (e.g. threat of punishment or censure), or psychological constraints (e.g. compulsions or phobias).

The principle of free will has religious, ethical, and scientific implications. For example, in the religious realm, free will implies that individual will and choices can coexist with an omnipotent divinity. In ethics, it may hold implications for whether individuals can be held morally accountable for their actions. In science, neuroscientific findings regarding free will may suggest different ways of predicting human behavior.

Adverb

willingly (comparative more willingly, superlative most willingly)

1. Of one’s own free will; freely and spontaneously.
   • 1748. David Hume. Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral. London: Oxford University Press, 1973. § 29.

     Now this is a process of the mind or thought, of which I would willingly know the foundation.

Synonyms

• gladly, happily

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• Determinism as True, Compatibilism and Incompatibilism as Both False, and the Real Problem
  ucl.ac.uk
  A critique of the view that quantum theory disproves determinism, and an argument that freedom is simultaneously compatible and incompatible with determinism. By Prof. Ted Honderich.
• Who's Afraid of Determinism? Rethinking Causes and Possibilities
  ase.tufts.edu
  A chapter from the 'The Free Will Handbook' (edited by Robert Kane, 2002) by Christopher Taylor and Daniel Dennett.
• Lecture Notes on Free Will and Determinism - Prof. Norman Swartz
  sfu.ca
  Discusses the various problems raised by different concepts of determinism, and presents an argument that physical determinism is compatible with free will.