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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science pp 1–4Cite as

Evolution of Free Will

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Synonyms

Freedom; Liberty; Morality; Rationality

Definition

An ability to choose among alternatives

Introduction

It has always been accepted that free will, an ability to choose among alternative actions or beliefs, is characteristically human. It seems to result from rational thought or perhaps is simply one aspect of rational thought. Because no nonhuman animal, we might presume, has the capacity for rational thought, none has free will either. As a result, possibilities for biological evolution of free will have never previously come up. Instead the focus has always been on how free will works in humans exclusively.

Descartes and subsequently Newton, in their mathematical descriptions of the universe, precipitated a crisis for any easy acceptance of human free will. Their approach suggested that the universe has a unique diachronic pattern. Philosophers often discuss this pattern as sequences of cause and effect. The mathematics however represents each event (for instance, the rate...

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References

  • Baer, J., Kaufman, J. C., & Baumeister, R. F. (Eds.). (2008). Are we free?: Psychology and free will. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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  • Dennett, D. C. (2002). Freedom evolves. New York: Vanguard.

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  • Gazzaniga, M. (2011). Who’s in charge?: Free will and the science of the brain. New York: Ecco.

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  • Harris, S. (2012). Free will. New York: Free Press.

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  • Kane, R. (1996). The significance of free will. Oxford: Oxford University Press

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  • Wiley, R. H. (2015). Noise matters: The evolution of communication. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wiley, R. H. (2017). How noise determines the evolution of communication. Animal Behaviour, 124, 307–313.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    R. Haven Wiley

Authors
  1. R. Haven Wiley
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to R. Haven Wiley .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  2. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

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© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature

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Cite this entry

Wiley, R.H. (2018). Evolution of Free Will. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3834-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3834-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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