Recently, in an interview with the Sean Carroll New York Times, physicist Sean Carroll dismissed free will. Neurosurgeon Michael Egnor explains why that means dismissing logic as well:
Michael Egnor: If we accepted his argument for materialism, we would have to stop believing in it—a curious, self-refuting result.
Logic is, of course, a massive discipline in itself and it has one striking characteristic: Logic shares no commonality with physics. That is, the Venn diagram of logic and the Venn diagram of physics don’t overlap in any way. Mathematical logic is entirely separate from mathematical physics. You can’t derive modus ponens: from Newton’s law of gravitation, and you can’t derive Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorem from the equations of general relativity. If Carroll is right that man is governed entirely by the laws of physics, without remainder, then where do the laws of logic come from?
A materialist might argue (vaguely) that the laws of logic are just epiphenomenal vapor from our physical brains. But that can’t account for logic. If a brain state represents logic, then logic must exist in some way independently of the brain state because representation presupposes that which it represents. A map presupposes that which is mapped. And if logic is not represented by a brain state, but is merely another kind of brain state, then logic can’t exist if brain states are entirely governed by physical laws — which in themselves contain no logic.
Michael Egnor, “Physicist rejects free will—and thus fails logic” at Mind Matters News
This is not an excellent time to be a materialist. Materialism is losing its Cool. It’s not even making sense.
More by neurosurgeon Michael Egnor on free will:
How Libet’s free will research is misrepresented: Sometimes, says Michael Egnor, misrepresentation may be deliberate because Libet’s work doesn’t support a materialist perspective.
Does “alien hand syndrome” show that we don’t really have free will? One woman’s left hand seemed to have a mind of its own. Did it?
and
Does brain stimulation research challenge free will? If we can be forced to want something, is the will still free?