No philosophers, Marxist or otherwise, can answer this question, because this is not a philosophical question. It’s a scientific one and it’s up to (natural) science to answer it. So it has nothing to do with Marxism (other than that the natural sciences and Marxism both acknowledge material reality).
This is a bit like asking philosophers whether there is an engine in your car. While they can sit there and debate and make all kinds of esoteric, smart-sounding arguments, a mechanic can simply open up the car and look inside it.
The question of free will is also a simple yes or no question: is there any room for “free will” in the composition of the universe and the laws of physics? And so far the answer appears to be a clear and unambiguous “NO”.
Everything in the universe is governed by (almost) deterministic laws at the macroscopic scale, and by stochastic (probabilistic) laws at the microscopic (quantum) scale. That includes the behavior of every living organism and every part of a living organism (such as a brain), because no matter how big or complex a system may get, its behavior is ultimately derived from and determined by the interactions and laws of behavior of its component parts, all the way down to (ostensibly) fundamental particles.
This is true even when the number of component parts is so unfathomably large that the behavior of the whole system can never be fully calculated from merely knowing how its component parts behave. In principle that’s just a computational limitation.
According to our current understanding of physics there is no “free will” particle and no variable or quantity called “free will” in any of the equations that determine how the particles which make up the universe (and everything in it) move and interact with each other. There may be some randomness, but you have no more control over that than you do over a dice throw (one that someone else makes, not you, so we’re clear that we’re excluding “trick throws” or anything of that sort).
So i don’t know why we pretend like this is still an open debate. Believing in free will is no different than believing in magic and miracles. If it makes you feel better, go ahead, but it’s not a scientifically defensible position to hold, even if in practice we all have no choice but to behave as if we have free will because that’s the only way to function in any society.
(Oh, and determinism is also, strictly speaking, wrong because of quantum randomness. But that’s sort of splitting hairs because a lot of that randomness tends to statistically average out at the scales which are relevant for our everyday lives. For the most part reality is fairly deterministic, albeit chaotic - meaning in theory predictable, in practice not so much…so this whole discussion is kinda pointless if you ask me.)
What does it matter? Why can it not be both? The binary is merely a model
We do have free will, but it is limited or ‘determined’ by the material conditions that we live in to implement that change… nonetheless, there is a chance to turn the will into someone material…
A better quote for this would be
[A] man ought to be so deeply convinced that the source of his own moral forces is in himself … that he never despairs and never falls into those vulgar, banal moods, pessimism and optimism. My own state of mind synthesizes these two feelings and transcends them: my mind is pessimistic, but my will is optimistic. Since I never build up illusions, I am seldom disappointed. I’ve always been armed with unlimited patience – not a passive, inert kind, but a patience allied with perseverance.
- Antonio Gramsci, Italian Marxist…
https://socialistregister.com/index.php/srv/article/download/27143/20148/61816
I see it as an irrelevant question. We’re affected by our material conditions, whatever the unresolvable scientific or philosophic nature of the universe may be. Asking what the nature and cause of our conditions are is the only thing that is really useful to us as human beings.
Bender to God: Do you know what I’m going to do before I do it?
God: Yes
Bender: What if I do something different?
God: Then I don’t know that.
My dog just decided to sit beside me. He could have chosen to lie on the floor or his bed. Does he have ‘free will’ too?
Sure. Why not?
