Apologia of Holbach's Illusion of Free Will

Free Will as a philosophical topic is not synonymous to self control. It is possible to exercise a type of control, for example, Johnny controlled his impulse to eat the cookies, knowing that his diet would not permit it. However, this does not mean Johnny had Free Will, in that he still hasn't escaped from his original stance, which was his genetics and his environment. The source of every example of supposed Free Will can be linked back to genetics or environment or a combination of both. For example, his genetics provided him the proclivity for discipline, and his disciplined friend provided the environmental stimuli. These are arguments that support a fate of happenstance.

However, free will is often used to mean freedom from unjust environmental limitations or freedom from undue consequences for independent decision making. This freedom is a value of the highest order. For example, a slave may be chained to a wall. He does not have the free will to move as his personal desire would want. Additionally, that same slave might face lashings for disobedience. In the latter case, it is true that the slave has the choice to disobey or not, but the artificial change from natural consequences might tip the scale of decision making, and generate the same outcome as if the slave were chained. Given the slave's construction is out of his control –it is a result of genetics and environment– artificially established consequences may have the exact same effect as hand cuffs if environmental stimuli have infiltrated the slaves decision making.

Looking at an example of a slave that successfully runs away while his exact twin that remains in confinement in spite of the physical opportunities for escape. What caused the difference in outcomes and the difference in free will? Given the same genetics, the environment must have been different in a way for the escapee that would encourage a more powerful free will. The environmental stimuli must have impacted the thought patterns of the escapee in a way that would have either added weight to the value of freedom, or fomented thinking patterns which generated alternative options or variations to obey, or disobey. Thus there are ultimately two options for fostering more independent free will, enlarging the value on freedom, and inciting thinking patterns that generate alternative choices.

 There is no avoiding the outcomes from the philosophical notion of Free Will. That is fine for all intensive purposes. Knowing this, it is easier to be forgiving. Additionally, as it is near impossible to change the genetics of other people or the genetics of ourselves, we do have control over the environment; we are part of the environment. For example, if someone is stuck in a dysfunctional pattern, we can act as part of the environment and influence their thinking patterns. If we find someone irksome we can change our environment by where we move.