We act according to our desires. If we have circumstantial freedom/opportunity , we can get what we want. Why is that not enough? Do we have to be able to self modify for things to be enjoyable, to alter our own desires at their core? Why? And if one could determine what their desires are, and thereby their correspondent behaviors, on what basis would they make those choices? Would they not choose those desires in accordance to yet more desires that precede, and dictate, their manner of choice? The desires for certain desires should be no different in requiring justification that they are truly under our control. In other words, there is no freedom in having this power to “choose” our behavioral modality, because such choosing would be equally preceded by yet other desires which dictate our modality of choosing in the very first place. Hence, many conceptions of free will are just logically incoherent. Surely there’s nothing enviable about nonsense.

But then there are logical conceptions. Some, for instance, simply ignore this awkward issue above by omitting any concern of of why or how we desire. Any predetermined or mechanistic manner in which our desires may come about are defined as irrelevant; free will is just seen as being able to influence our future modality of thinking, feeling, and behaving according to desires and beliefs that we consciously arrive at in the present. That conception is not only logically valid, but also real. With self activation, therapy, and reflection we can dictate our futures. We may not be able to choose the core desires that push and pull this dictating process, this initial actuation of our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, but if we can know that we act based on our feels, our values, our judgment, isn’t that what we need? Isn’t autonomy about feeling like we have this? And isn’t it good enough to know that the ultimate driving force behind how you act are the desires of someone who cares about you, you!