The Free Will Problem
The Problem
The debate is over whether a form of determinism is true, one which precludes the existence of a free will--where even the human will (what you think, feel, discover, and desire)--is pre-determined by prior factors, instead of being under your conscious control.
The Solution
What confuses philosophers with regard to solving the problem of free will is that the problem is not solved by focusing on it, but by directing your focus to other things first--much like an illusory visual image that you only ever see by first focusing your eyes on a dot somewhere else on the page. The image then shows up in your peripheral vision.
In the realm of ideas, there are 2 kinds of foundations: a logical foundation and an experiential (existential) foundation. While we may witness the expansion of our ideas as coming from the prior layers of one foundation, it may be the other foundation we need to examine for "the answer" or "the solution" to present itself.
In the case of the Free Will Problem, philosophers have mistakenly focused only on the experiential foundation, preventing them from solving the problem. Imagine a pyramid with a top, middle sections, and a base. Because of the way a pyramid "works"--in order for something at the top to exist, something logically prior (more near the base) must first exist, in order to give it support.
If the pyramid represents the logical, and life represents "human life"--then life is at the top, supported by action, supported by morality, with free will at the base. Like this:
Philosophers unable to solve the Free Will Problem have put free will above morality in the chain of experience (in the same order we would "experience" them in life)--but in the chain of logic, morality (ie, principled action) is above--due to its closer logical "connection" to life itself.
Each layer of the pyramid represents the logical genesis (the "what is required") for the layers above. The experiential version would have life at the base (beginning)--because we always "experience" life before anything else. Experientially, action can be a proof of life for us, as we often conclude that something is alive after we first see it move on its own.
Logically, actions must come prior to life because life fully relies on actions. What it is that maintains even an "immobile" single-celled life form, are the metabolic actions (chemical reactions) going on inside the cell. Without that action, no life would exist.
Proof comes in 2 forms: by Direct Perception (experience) and also by Syllogistic Inference (one-step logic). Other ways of convincing ourselves of truths exist, but those other ways do not lead to knowledge which is conclusively justified (conclusions)--only to beliefs which can be made more probable by employment of evermore diligence and effort (theories).
Definitions
Here are some definitions which help to set up the 4 syllogisms required in order to solve the Free Will Problem:
Agency: ability to make change unilaterally (independently)
Free Will: ability to focus your own consciousness, eventually arriving at some judgments/principles (by reason) and then making some choices (by volition)
Instinct: subconscious and unalterable responses to environmental stimuli
Morality: principled action, arrived at by conscious adoption of principles
Proof (syllogistic inference)
And here are the 4 syllogisms needed to solve the Free Will Problem:
Syllogism A
Life either requires sufficient action or not.
Absence of sufficient action leads to death.
--------
Therefore, life requires (implies) sufficient action.
Syllogism B
Human life implies sufficient action, supplied either by instinct or morality.
In human life, instincts are not sufficient to provide all needed actions.
--------
Therefore, human life implies morality (a conscious adoption of principles).
Syllogism C
Morality implies agency (an independent, unilateral ability to change).
Agency implies free will.
--------
Therefore, morality implies free will.
Syllogism D
Human life implies morality.
Morality implies free will.
--------
Therefore, the mere existence of human life (anywhere) implies free will.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Attribution for top image: Raphael [Public domain]
Link: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:"The_School_of_Athens"_by_Raffaello_Sanzio_da_Urbino.jpg