Is ‘free will’ a function of consciousness and identity rather than causality?

Workshop # 19, Free Will, Series 10,
This event begins at 7.30 pm S'pore & WA time, 12.30 pm UK, 7.30 am NY.

You will need to view the relevant podcast below on YouTube before joining the meeting in order to participate in the discussion.
https://youtu.be/6GJkp1JlPJQ
I know it's stupid, but please click 'like', as it promotes circulation.
Join this group at meetup.com/philosophy-of-value-workshops

The workshops include of a prior presentation of the topic by myself on YouTube. The meeting itself consists of a brief review of the topic followed by questions and discussion. The weekly topic is posted a week before the event, together with a suggested reading from my work The Pursuit of Value, available through Amazon Books or myself. Transcripts of the Youtube presentation are available by email.

THIS WEEK: John Searle described the lack of progress in resolving the problem of ‘free will’ as a scandal in philosophy. On one hand, the principle of universal causation holds that every event has a sufficient cause, and on the other, we feel ourselves sometimes able to act freely, beyond the constraints of external forces. Also, if there is ‘free will’, it is a product of reflective consciousness. Animals don’t have it. Moreover, we are primarily concerned with actions being ‘our own’. Can a solution to the problem of ‘free will’ thereby be found in considerations of reflective consciousness and personal identity? Reading; The Pursuit of Value, Ch. 4, Scn. iv.