Pragmatics of Recognizing the Illusoriness of Free Will and Agentic Selves

Abstract

The majority of scientific and philosophic positions recognize the notion of free will as a necessary illusion that must be maintained for individual and collective functioning. Research has shown detriments in the disbelief of free will as expressed in lowered moral responsibility and greater general antisocial tendencies. However, this paper addresses that the recognition of the illusoriness of free will and agentic selfhood can promote a compassionate understanding of thoughts, reactions, and behaviours of self and others. Research has demonstrated significant positive correlations between habitual self-referential patterns/egoistic tendencies with depressive and other mood disorder related symptoms. Therefore, the recognition of causality and interdependence of the self and choices may potentially alleviate psychological and sociological dysfunctions. Psychological practices and philosophies such as mindfulness are explored as one of the individual methods for the promotion of the recognition of one’s own free will. Lastly, theories of relational identity and enmeshment are addressed as potential pathways to promote the correlated characteristics of altruistic support of communal harmony and personal contentment.