Can freethinkers exist in a material universe? Some Atheists say freewill cannot exist in a material universe, but freethinking can. To say free will doesn't exist but freethinking does seems a bit of an oxymoron to me.
Do you consider this universe “material”? If you do, as our meager senses render it material, and gather that there are freethinkers currently among us, then the answer is obvious. The mind is the first and last bastion of freedom.
Freewill exists, in the context that we have the ability to follow the path we choose, express our creativity or opinions, and each pursue our brand of happiness (at least in most countries).
Where a conflict exists, is when the concept of our freewill comes up against predestination (fate), or a divine omniscience. These are counter to the landscape necessary to permit true freewill to play out. I personally have as yet uncovered no cause to give credence to either of the latter.
"Can freethinkers exist in a material universe? Some Atheists say freewill cannot exist in a material universe, but freethinking can. To say free will doesn't exist but freethinking does seems a bit of an oxymoron to me."
Perhaps it only seems oxymoronic because you lack Free Thought . . .
Seeing the entirety of the information is much different then an already predetermined course of thinking within a religious construct. If you were indoctrinated from your young atheist self (as a baby) to believe in only X, and you are constantly bombarded praise for aligning your thinking with your indoctrinators and you get negative responses for NOT aligning yourself, what real Choice do you have.
You are who you are because of three factors . . Genetics, Environment and Experiences . . . Your developing brain creates neuron pathways and chemical productions based on ALL of these . . . Genetics we really cannot do to much about, and we are too young to really effect our Environment (What you eat, breath and energy we are exposed to) . . . So our Experiences (both good and bad), determine how our minds will be set. This is why people who tend to grow up in different regions adopt the religion of that particular culture OR are open to Supernatural claims being a valid reasoning method.
So regardless of what I am "Free" to think about, I am subject to a Pattern of behavior that was Molded from infancy to young adult . . . Can we retrain our brain . . Not without INCREDIBLE difficulty. Our subconscious will always be working against us to achieve the chemicals it want to feed the brain as much of the good chemicals it wants.
People with their corpus callosum cut (due to extreme Seizures) can have the Right side of their brain develop an entirely different Free Will then the Left side. To the point where even one side was a Theist and the other was an atheist. Two Spheres of consciousness are created . . . If the consciousness is the soul, did this person get another soul?
Free thought means we are open to evidence proving there is a God. If evidence was so compelling in favor of there being a God, and Free thinking Atheist will believe in that God . . . Ask Don, ask any other Atheist, and they will say yes. With that in mind are you open to the possibility that there is No God . . . . I have yet to have a Theist say "Yes" . . . Because they are not free to think in this manner.
Freethought (or "free thought")[1] is a philosophical viewpoint which holds that positions regarding truth should be formed on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism, rather than authority, tradition, revelation, or other dogma. In particular, freethought is strongly tied with rejection of traditional religious belief.[1][2][3] The cognitive application of freethought is known as "freethinking", and practitioners of freethought are known as "freethinkers".[1][4] The term first came into use in the 17th century in order to indicate people who inquired into the basis of traditional religious beliefs.
