facebook pixel
New Ideal - Reason | Individualism | Capitalism
A guy riding a horse.
worldinmyeyes.pl / Shutterstock

Free Will vs. Science?

More and more, we’re told that if we want to be logical, scientific and fact-based, we’ll discard the old-fashioned notion of free will. Only religionists and other people who cling to supernatural, magical ideas like Descartes’ “ghost in the machine” still believe our minds are free.

Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism rejects this as a false alternative. The alternatives are not science and determinism—or supernaturalism and free will. Properly understood, free will is a fact of human nature, a natural power possessed by the human form of consciousness and which underlies logical thinking. In this lecture I sketch that new alternative: Objectivism’s natural, scientific account of free will.

Do you have a comment or question?

Share this article:

Onkar Ghate

Onkar Ghate, PhD in philosophy, is a senior fellow and chief philosophy officer at the Ayn Rand Institute. A contributing author to many books on Rand’s ideas and philosophy, he is a senior editor of New Ideal and a member of the Ayn Rand University faculty.

Updates from New Ideal

Book Image  

Listen to New Ideal Live!

New Ideal Live is the podcast that explores pressing cultural issues from the perspective of Ayn Rand’s philosophy, Objectivism, which upholds the ideals of reason, individualism, and capitalism.

Subscribe here.

Ayn Rand University App

Explore unique philosophical content that challenges conventional views — in courses you can take on the go.

Available on Google Play and
the App Store.

Welcome to New Ideal!

If you like what you’re reading, be sure to subscribe to our weekly newsletter! You’ll also receive a FREE copy of our book, Illuminating Ayn Rand.