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Accepting determinism as true, isn't any conception of self ultimately illusory? You're not an 'I' anymore than a raindrop falling on a leaf, or three billiard balls and a diet coke. If you're willing to buy into and value such an illusion, why not other ones?
Further, why should the illusory construct that is yourself fake-believe you're more or less a part of an inevitable chain of events because of what 'you' do?
Assuming determinism is true (this isn't a logical progression, just bullet points):
1) You don't exist.
2) It's impossible for you to behave as if you aren't a free-willed being, no matter how true it is, because acting in that way is not just 'programmed' in to you, it is you. It is the illusion that we call Kuwoobie.
3) Your 'biological imperative' is no less fake than free will. We're no more driven by survival than by free will - or philosophy.
The "you" as something apart from the rest of the universe doesn't exist, sure. But you still have a body and brain and are controlling your actions. "You" are something transient, that is experiencing the universe.
Consider a machine. Machines can be programmed to have awareness of their surroundings. Assuming AI is possible, they might some day even have awareness of themselves. Humans are no different--we just happen to be one of the few animal species with self-awareness (dolphins being the only other I'm sure of, possible some birds).
"You" just refers to the rational mind (a physical construct) that is an emergent property of the human construct. Where the matter/energy that constitutes the mind ends, so do you.
Yes, the universe created us. Yes, all of our actions are determined. But our unique perception of the world is included in that. We experience our choices as being made because we do make them. This is extremely important to note.
Humans DO make choices. We have a will. All determinism says is that the universe is such a way that you would always have made that choice. You still CHOOSE it according to your beliefs and desires, it's just that those were instilled upon you by natural processes not of your choosing.
Your will is not free, because there's no ability to make a choice, but there certainly is a choice made (you just weren't aware that the universe had already decided for you, in the first instant of time). Those two aren't incompatible.
Humans don't have a perception of free will. All we have is a perception of making choices, which determinism supports (and actually requires). So there is still no problem. You just made the choices that you wanted to make, because the universe made you want them.
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And it is wrong to say that "free will" is programmed into you. Do you think primitive peoples 20-30k years ago had a conception of free will? I'd be heavily inclined to say no. Free will is something people found through philosophy. Turns out they were wrong. But you only believe your will is free because you were taught to believe it.
Edited, May 13th 2011 9:44am by idiggory