[Advaita-l] The Foundations of Adhyāsa - 5.2 (The Siddhānta: The Self is not the Body) (Part II)

[Raghav Kumar Dwivedula]

Namaste Kartik ji
We hear in shAstra of the (jiva)AtmA being endowed with icchAshakti and
kriyAshakti. And thereby arise the privileges of doing karma (some action),
or not  doing it or of doing it in some other way. Based on this, is
reasonable to hold that there is such a thing called 'free will'.

On the other hand, in the scientific paradigms in vogue today,
"consciousness"( in this context we have to take it as the reflected
consciousness or cidAbhAsa) has no *causal efficacy*. Even if
'consciousness' is granted some sort of existence by these scientific
materialism/reductionism based models, it (consciousness) cannot effect any
changes on any entity in space and time.

For example, if we trace the chain of cause and effect backwards, and
analyse a simple free will-based action such as a person moving his hand.
The causes would be muscles, motor nerve signals, motor cortex firing in
the brain etc. And then to some other physical or neuronal stimulus etc. It
is claimed that the causes of all human 'actions' can be explained (away?)
without reference to consciousness which is thereby deprived of any causal
efficacy.

Is this issue discussed anywhere in detail - whether in the traditional way
or even in modern times?

(I have read some modern thinkers who are in a minority , object to this
denial of free will by pointing out that there is a 'discontinuity' in most
models of quantum physics and this collapse of the wave function leaves the
traditional vedantic view uncontradicted. I was looking for more loopholes
in these materialistic free will denying models of current science.)

Om
Raghav



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