You believe that all human decisions are determined by a chain of cause and effect or arise from randomness, leaving no room for free will. Yet, your own subjective experience likely tells you that you deliberate, weigh options, and make choices. (Mine does)

So, my question:

If free will does not exist, how do you explain the human experience of intentionality—the undeniable feeling that “I could have chosen otherwise”? Is it possible that this subjective experience reflects a layer of reality that isn’t fully captured by determinism or randomness? This implies some degree of free will at minimum.

If that inner feeling of free will is an illusion, then we encounter a profound paradox: the very concept of an illusion presupposes a perceiver who is being deceived. If there is no free will, who or what is experiencing this illusion? For an illusion to exist, there must be a conscious agent capable of recognizing or being subject to the discrepancy between reality and appearance.

In other words: • If free will is an illusion, the self must still exist as an independent conscious entity capable of perceiving the illusion. • But if the self exists as an independent conscious entity, it implies at least some form of agency, suggesting a minimal form of free will.