Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Consciousness and Free Will

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Human Connectome

  • 551 Accesses

Abstract

The word consciousness comes from the Latin conscious, meaning “knowing, being aware” which in turn comes from conscire (con meaning “together” + scire meaning “know”). Probably this is a loan translation of the Greek word “συνείδηση” (sinidisi) which comes from the verb “σύνοιδα” (meaning “I know well”). From the Latin scire also come the words “sense” and “science.”

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Acin A, Masanes L (2016) Certified randomness in quantum physics. Nature 540(7632):213–219. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature20119

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Baars B (1993) Cognitive theory of consciousness. Cambridge University Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Barlow N (1958) The autobiography of Charles Darwin 1809–1882. With the original omissions restored. Edited and with appendix and notes by his grand-daughter Nora Barlow. Collins, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Berofsky B (1995) Determinism. In: Audi R (ed) The Cambridge dictionary of philosophy. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 199–200

    Google Scholar 

  • Bobzien S (1998) Determinism and freedom in stoic philosophy. Oxford University Press, Clarendon

    Google Scholar 

  • Bolton D (1979) An approach to Wittgenstein’s philosophy. The Macmillan Press LtD, London

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Brassard G, Raymond-Robichaud P (2013) Can free will emerge from determinism in quantum theory? In: Suarez A, Adams P (eds) Is science compatible with free will? Springer, New York, NY

    Google Scholar 

  • Caruso G (2012) Free will and consciousness: a determinist account of the illusion of free will. Lexington Books, Landham, MD

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark TW (1999) Fear of mechanism. A compatibilist critique of “The Volitional Brain”. J Conscious Stud 6(8-9):279–293

    Google Scholar 

  • De Sousa A (2013) Towards an integrative theory of consciousness: part 1 (neurobiological and cognitive models). Mens Sana Monogr 11(1):100–150. https://doi.org/10.4103/0973-1229.109335

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Descartes R, Cottingham J, Stoothoff R, Murdochtrans D (1984) The philosophical writings of René Descartes (1641). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Eccles JC (1992) Evolution of consciousness. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 89(16):7320–7324. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.89.16.7320

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Edelman G (1978) The mindful brain: cortical organization and the group-selective theory of higher brain function. MIT Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Edelman G (1989) The remembered present: a biological theory of consciousness. Basic Books, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Edelman G (1992) Bright air, brilliant fire: on the matter of the mind. Basic books, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Edelman G, Changeux J (2001) The brain. Transaction Publishers, Somerset, NJ

    Google Scholar 

  • Einstein A (2006) The world as I see it. Filiquarian Publishing

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaulin S, McBurney DH (2003) Evolutionary psychology. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ

    Google Scholar 

  • Gisin N (2013) Are there quantum effects coming from outside space–time? Nonlocality, free will and “no many-worlds”. In: Suarez A, Adams P (eds) Is science compatible with free will? Springer, New York, NY

    Google Scholar 

  • Grush R, Churchland PS (1995) Gaps in Penrose’s toiling. J Conscious Stud 2(1):10–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Hameroff SR, Penrose R (1996) Conscious events as orchestrated space-time selections. J Conscious Stud 3(1):36–53

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawking S (1994) Black holes and baby universes and other essays. Bantam, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Heisenberg M (2013) The origin of freedom in animal behaviour. In: Suarez A, Adams P (eds) Is science compatible with free will? Springer, New York, NY

    Google Scholar 

  • Herron J, Freeman S (2013) Evolutionary analysis, 5th edn. Pearson, Hoboken, NJ

    Google Scholar 

  • Hume D (1999) Enquiry concerning human understanding. In: Tom L (ed) Beauchamp. Oxford University Press, Oxford/New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Jonas JB, Schmidt AM, Muller-Bergh JA, Schlotzer-Schrehardt UM, Naumann GO (1992) Human optic nerve fiber count and optic disc size. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 33(6):2012–2018

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Koch C (2009) Free will, physics, biology, and the brain. In: Murphy N, Ellis G, O ’Connor T (eds) Downward causation and the neurobiology of free will. Springer Verlag, Berlin, pp 31–52

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Lamont C (1969) Freedom of choice affirmed. Beacon Press, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Laplace P (1995) Pierre-Simon Laplace philosophical essay on probabilities (Translated from the fifth French edition of 1825 with notes by the translator). Springer-Verlag, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Libet B (2010) Unconscious cerebral initiative and the role of conscious will in voluntary action. Behav Brain Sci 8(4):529–539. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0140525x00044903

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Libet B, Gleason CA, Wright EW, Pearl DK (1983) Time of conscious intention to act in relation to onset of cerebral activity (readiness-potential). The unconscious initiation of a freely voluntary act. Brain 106(Pt 3):623–642. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/106.3.623

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morse SJ (2007) The non-problem of free will in forensic psychiatry and psychology. Behav Sci Law 25(2):203–220. https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.744

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nagel T (1989) Freedom. Oxford University Press, The View From Nowhere

    Google Scholar 

  • Nichols S, Grantham T (2000) Adaptive complexity and phenomenal consciousness. Philos Sci 67(4):648–670

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Omoregie J (2015) Freewill: the degree of freedom within. AuthorHouseUK, Bloomington, IN

    Google Scholar 

  • Penrose R (1989) The emperor’'s new mind: concerning computers, minds, and the laws of physics. Oxford University Press, New York, NY

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Penrose R (1994) Mechanisms, microtubules, and the mind. J Conscious Stud 1:241–249

    Google Scholar 

  • Penrose R (1996) Shadows of the mind: a search for the missing science of consciousness. Oxford University Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Penrose R, Hameroff S (1995) What ‘Gaps’? Reply to Grush and Churchland. J Conscious Stud 2:99–112

    Google Scholar 

  • Pereboom D (2009) Living without free will. Cambridge studies in philosophy. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511498824

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ravven H (2013) The self beyond itself: an alternative history of ethics, the new brain sciences, and the myth of free will. The New Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Schopenhauer A (1960) Essay on the freedom of the will. Dover Publications

    Google Scholar 

  • Searle J (2013) "The problem of free will". Freedom and neurobiology: reflections on free will, language, and political power. Columbia University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Sluyter A (2003) Neo-environmental determinism, intellectual damage control, and nature/society science. Antipode 35(4):813–817. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1467-8330.2003.00354.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spinoza B (2017) Ethics. Loki’s Publishing

    Google Scholar 

  • Stone AA (2008) The ethical boundaries of forensic psychiatry: a view from the ivory tower. Bull Am Acad Psychiatry Law 12:209-19, 1984. J Am Acad Psychiatry Law 36(2):167–174

    Google Scholar 

  • Suarez A (2013) Free will and nonlocality at detection as basic principles of quantum physics. In: Suarez A, Adams P (eds) Is science compatible with free will? Springer, New York, NY

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Suarez A, Adams P (eds) (2013) Is science compatible with free will? Springer, New York, NY

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Inwagen P (1986) An essay on free will, vol 34. Oxford University Press, Oxford; vol 135

    Google Scholar 

  • Viney DW (1986) James,William, on free will and determinism. J Mind Behav 7(4):555–565

    Google Scholar 

  • Wittgenstein L (1958) Philosophical investigations. Blackwell, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Wittgenstein L (1969) On certainty. Harper, New York

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessalonik, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Kostas N. Fountoulakis

Authors
  1. Kostas N. Fountoulakis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Fountoulakis, K.N. (2022). Consciousness and Free Will. In: The Human Connectome. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10351-3_15

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10351-3_15

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-10350-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-10351-3

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation