"will set you free" lol the irony :)

Okay, well this is where we disagree...

There is no freedom in a feeling.

exactly my point. To me agency is a feeling.

Right, so to me free will is a symbol associated to an aspect of the world imagined by humans. I believe it is constructed like gods or money or anything else humans make up to make life easier. In that sense, I don't believe it is real like for example the sun is, which I think exists independent of human experience (call me crazy!). I think it essentially is a feeling of agency we have, vibes basically. I don't see a "real" aspect of the world to point to and call free will.

But would you say that responsibility is socially constructed? Or does it exist independent of human experience? (or a third option?) Obviously I see the value of negotiated responsibility in society, I just don't think it's real beyond human fabulation.

About the big bang idea, do you mean to say that going back down the chain of causes for human actions you would not reach the big bang? I don't think you would, I just used the wrong term with ultimate, I meant first (prime?).

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I have a hard time seeing any "problems" created by physical causal chains.

I read Dennett's Freedom Evolves a while ago and I had the same feeling, it seems to hinge on seeing the "problem" or not... I get that determinism is necessary for bringing about intended outcomes, but the fact that intention itself is determined is problematic to me.

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wait, you said you find it "depressing". Well, stop that.

I wish I could :)

This challenges my concept of reality. What does it mean for something to be real? Simply stating so?

Aside from that, when you say

Free will is not a matter of belief. Free will is a matter of definition.

do you mean that things can be only a matter of belief OR of definition? Because that seems weird to me.

What prevents someone from defining something and then assigning it the truth value "False"? I guess I don't understand the dicotomy between belief and definition.

All of this seems to point towards responsibility being socialy constructed. But I'm not sure if you would agree with that from your comment?

So, do you plan to hold the Big Bang responsible for the child's behavior? And how do you plan to go about that?

I mean, as it is the ultimate physical cause, it seems that the answer would be yes if responsibility is not a meer tool of social function. I have a hard time seeing how free will defined as deliberate action avoids the problem of physical causal chains. Depressing as it may be, our feelings about the matter should have little to say about its true value.

Ok, so you would say that there is a causal chain that connects human actions to the big bang, it's just that somewhere along the way there is a cause that matters preceded by a cause that doesn't? And this cause that matters gives you free will?

(I thought big bounce was out of fashion.. but anyway it's not actually relevant. )

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But intention is determined by your own choices.

I just don't think that is true.