Philosophtea: Did You Choose This Tea? On Free Will & Decision Making
Details
You decided to read this event description. Or did you?
Every day we make thousands of decisions, from what to eat for breakfast to who we love and what we believe. It feels like we're in the driver's seat. But neuroscience, physics and psychology keep raising an uncomfortable question: if every thought has a cause, and every cause has a cause before it, where exactly does "you" come in?
In this Philosophtea session, we'll pour a pot of tea and dig into one of philosophy's oldest puzzles, now with fresh evidence from brain research and behavioural science. Questions we'll steep in:
- If the universe runs on cause and effect, is there any room left for a choice that is truly yours?
- What did Benjamin Libet's famous "your brain decides before you do" experiments actually show, and why are scientists still arguing about them?
- Can you be both determined and free? (The surprisingly popular "compatibilist" answer.)
- How much of our everyday decision-making is shaped by defaults, framing, hunger and fatigue rather than careful thought?
- If free will turns out to be an illusion, what happens to responsibility, blame, praise and punishment?
How it works: We'll start with a short, friendly introduction to the main ideas (no lecture, promise), then open the floor for discussion. No philosophy background needed, just curiosity and a willingness to question your own assumptions. Sceptics, determinists, believers and the thoroughly undecided are all welcome.
Tea is on us. Whether you choose to drink it is between you and your neurons. 🍵
📅 Wednesday, 7 October 2026
🕕 6:00 – 8:00 pm
📍 Cafe Cu
🗣️ English
📚 Want to read ahead? (Totally optional)
Quick entry points
- Free Will by Sam Harris
- What Does It All Mean? by Thomas Nagel (the free will chapter)
The big debate
- Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will by Robert Sapolsky
- Free Agents: How Evolution Gave Us Free Will by Kevin Mitchell
- Just Deserts: Debating Free Will by Daniel Dennett & Gregg Caruso
- Das Handwerk der Freiheit by Peter Bieri (German)
How we actually decide
- Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
- Nudge by Richard Thaler & Cass Sunstein
- The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz
🎥 Prefer to watch or listen?
- Crash Course Philosophy #24: Determinism vs Free Will (then #25: Compatibilism)
- Terra X Lesch & Co: "Haben wir einen freien Willen?" (German)
- Robert Sapolsky lecture on Determined
- Daniel Dennett on free will at the Santa Fe Institute
- Dennett vs. Sapolsky: "Do We Have Free Will?" (How To Academy podcast)
- Barry Schwartz: The Paradox of Choice (TED)