Trigger words: free will
Indicator sentences: Well, this is where I ask you to define "free will"
Negotiation parts: If you define it it in a way that's incompatible with determinism, then sure, you can easily say it doesn't exist, but why is that definition more correct than the Compatibilist one? Surely the reason we seek "free will" is because we see a superficial incompatibility between the rules of the universe and our own perception of will, which makes us uncomfortable? Essentially, the point of Compatibilism is that "free will" as it is commonly defined is not necessary to solve this dilemma. You just need to learn to be comfortable with a truly materialist, monist concept of the mind. Which is why I like to phrase it as I did initially: You may not have "free will", but you certainly have "will" and that's all that matters. That's a very good point. I suppose I may not have the ability to make variety of choices in any particular situation, which is how I would define "free will", but I do at least have the ability to make the single choice I am capable of making.
Trigger words: choices (2)
Indicator sentences: Your equivocating in choice. What you mean is "your body takes these actions".
Negotiation parts: Much like when my heart beats, or leg kicks when my knee is struck with a hammer, it's the result of chemical dominoes. Where does the conscious decision actually enter the process? Every thought I have is a chemical chain reaction set off by either previous chemical reactions an known outcomes to those paths, or external inputs that are filter through and cause a reaction. It's no difference than rolling a ball down a hill. The ball is rolling, but the actions it takes are physically determined by the surface it rolls on.
Trigger words: choices (4) choice (2)
Indicator sentences: You're saying choice, but what you mean is "the dominoes fell in the unique chemical soup that is your brain and your body reacted as it must"
Negotiation parts: The difference being that in the way I describe it is that you're just describing a more complex version of a falling object, but what we want when we talk of free will is the falling object to move some way that isn't determined by those DETERMINED physical rails of gravity and drag. If we can find a way choices are made that's deliberate, not random or determined THAT is what we mean, not the compatibilists equivocation of choice. That doesn't sound like a free will, but more like a lost will. We need a set of rails (personality, genes, experiences, laws) to make choices, otherwise we'd be stuck in some sort of limbo. So I think it's more productive to rationalize the will we have instead of lamenting a will that can't even exist.
Trigger words: Free Will
Indicator sentences: What do you mean by free will?
Negotiation parts: The ability to choose between two things and actually have had the ability to make two choices. Given that, no matter how the universe works, you necessarily always end up making only one of the two choices, how do you define the “ability to make two choices”? It seems to me that it is impossible by definition.
Indicator sentences: “Less meaningful” compared to what?
Trigger words: can
Indicator sentences: What do you mean by "can"?
Negotiation parts: I have just gone to the kitchen for some water. But I could have gone for some milk, too. Most people will agree with this, it's a rather basic intuition. In what sense is it *not* true? You couldn't have chosen to get the milk. You recognize the options, but you could not have taken them. You have repeated that three times with no explanation. *Why* not? Because your actions are frankly just chemistry. There is no point where your desire to do one thing or another changes the chemical reactions that determine what you do. As a matter of fact, quite the opposite has been shown by scientific experimentation thus far, suggesting that your actions are determined and your brain simply rationalizes the results. You recognize the other options, but you don't get to control which ones you take. Therefore, you have no free will.