Of Free Will, Section 1

The debate over whether or not humankind has free will is one with a rich philosophical history. Given the nature of the question, however, it's highly unlikely the debate will ever reach a conclusion. It's a question answered by countless undemonstrable hypotheses, that are interesting, sure, but which fail to recognize the hard truth: that, in all probability, the question is impossible to answer with certainty.

In his Twilight of the Idols, Friedrich Nietzsche talks about free will in a different context. Instead of asking whether or not humankind is free, he asks what the consequences are of humankind believing they're free. In these posts, I'd like to discuss two different ways of looking at Nietzsche's rethinking of the question of free will. On the one hand, there's a social component to the question, which is Nietzsche's focus. On the other hand, there's a philosophical component which needs to be elaborated upon, because I think it's important in understanding where contemporary thinkers, particularly Michel Foucault, situate their philosophical thinking.