asaris

We do feel it -- where do you think the concept came from? The problem is that over centuries of philosophy, the concept has become reified, so that rather than saying 'Some of our actions are free', some people feel free to compelled to say 'We have a free will'. But you can agree with the first and not the second.

I don't understand what you mean by 'things of circumstance'. Could you explain it a bit more?

First, not everything is an event, therefore, not everything is either a caused or a random event. Second, even if all events are either caused or random, there is a simple way to define a free action. Suppose agent A performs action X. X is free if and only if A caused X. Admittedly, it's more complicated than that, but the idea is that I'm responsible for the causal chains I start or contribute to. If I'm caught up in a causal chain that I neither started nor contributed to, I'm not responsible for my action. Third, even if there is an infinite regress, since, as you say, everything is either caused or random. If the infinite regress is caused, it needs a cause external to the regress. If it's random, there is no meaning in the world, either intrinsic or extrinsic, and we are deceiving ourselves if we think our relationships or anything else we do has meaning.

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"Die Deutschen meinen, daß die Kraft sich in Härte und Grausamkeit offenbaren müsse, sie unterwerfen sich dann gerne und mit Bewunderung:[...]. Daß es Kraft giebt in der Milde und Stille, das glauben sie nicht leicht."

"The Germans believe that power must reveal itself in hardness and cruelty and then submit themselves gladly and with admiration[...]. They do not believe readily that there is power in meekness and calm."

-- Friedrich Nietzsche