Why Ronit Herzfeld Gets Free Will Wrong

Ronit Herzfeld, a psychotherapist and writer for the Huffington Post, recently wrote an article on free will entitled, "Do You Think You Have Free Will". In it, she explains how free will can be achieved through the consciousness of one's actions; instead of only reacting, one must think about his or her actions before responding in an appropriate manner. Like a twelve step program, Herzfeld lays out all the necessary steps needed to obtain free will. The problem is, she does not know quite what she is talking about.

With all her talk of free will, Ronit Herzfeld seems to know little about the subject. She consciously pushes aside the free will v. determinism debate and creates her own understanding of free will. She writes,

"Unlike most philosophers and theologians, the question for me cannot be reduced to the duality of "yes, we can choose freely," or "no, everything is predetermined." As a psychotherapist, I have discovered that it's a matter of degrees. Your capacity for free will depends on how aware you are at any given moment"[1]

With this statement, Herzeld completley puts revels her lack of knowledge in the subject of free will. The free will v. determinism debate does not just boil down to "yes, we can choose freely," or "no, everything is predetermined". First off, this debate has many sides, including both compatibilists and incompatibilists. Secondly, predeterminism and determinism are two separate theories. And thirdly, just because it would be easier to make free will "a matter of degrees" does not mean that it is. Herfeld is confusing free will with conscious decision making. To have free will, one would have to make decisions outside of influences from nature and past experiences. The way Herzfeld writes this article, it seems as though she is advocating determinism more rather than free will. Because she does not know or confuses the topic, Ronit Herzfeld is spreading a popular, but incorrect, notion of free will.

Q: Why are so many misconceptions about philosophy ingrained in pop culture?

[1] Herzfeld, Ronit. "Do You Think You Have Free Will?" The Huffington Post. 24 Feb. 2011. Web. 26 Feb. 2011. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ronit-herzfeld/free-will_b_826069.html>.