jtnystrom comments on Self-empathy as a source of "willpower" - Less Wrong

51 Post author: Academian 26 October 2010 02:20PM

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Comment author: jtnystrom 09 November 2010 09:21:07AM 2 points [-]

Nietzsche's view of "free will" comes to mind. He suggested that the mind is in reality a complex of different wills and tendencies, and the wills are in conflict as to who should be in charge at any given time, since each will wants to dominate the entire mind completely. When we manage to organise the various wills into a consistent hierarchy, we experience a feeling of being in control of ourselves, regardless of which will came out on top in the hierarchy - we identify with that particular will. This is what he suggests that it really means to have free will, a freedom of inner conflict.