As material beings we belong wholly to the natural world. We are therefore subject to causal relations. As such, we have no free will. But as rational beings we have a part in what Kant calls das Ding an sich – that is, the world as it exists in itself, independent of our sensory impressions. Only when we follow our ‘practical reason’ – which enables us to make moral choices – do we exercise our free will, because when we conform to moral law, it is we who make the law we are conforming to.
-Jostein Gaarder
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