The feeling of freedom comes from the fact that our brains have not decided yet what to do. It is not coming from a sense of real freedom. Many philosophers hold to this (page 8, GOD A GUIDE FOR THE PERPLEXED Keith Ward, OneWorld, Oxford, 2003).
FIRST
Most of us don't care if we have free will as in having the power to go back in time to pick x instead of y. We are just happy to feel free. Religion manipulates this to tell you that because you feel free you really are free and accountable before God. Most of the time we do not need that reward and punishing kind of free will.
Feeling free is about how you feel now. A feeling does not and cannot tell if you go back in time that you may choose the opposite of what you chose in any past moment. Where the feeling counts it says nothing. Feeling free only means you feel free not that you are really free. The feeling comes from the fact that you are not aware of anything forcing you.
There’s a difference between saying ‘I feel free’ and ‘I feel I have free will.’ What we actually feel is just freedom—the ability to act without obvious force. That feeling doesn’t necessarily mean we have free will. Some will tell you if free will is false, then you are accused of having an illusion. That is not true.
1. Freedom of action ≠ freedom of choice
Feeling free often just means you’re not being physically coerced—you can move, speak, or act without immediate external force.
But the choices themselves may be fully determined by prior causes, instincts, or external influences. So you can act freely in execution but still not have a genuinely free will in decision-making.
2. Illusion of autonomy
Humans have a strong cognitive bias toward feeling in control. This is called the illusion of control.
Even if all your decisions are predetermined by prior brain states or external factors, your brain can make it feel like you’re making free choices.
3. External constraints can be subtle
Feeling “free” usually refers to obvious, direct constraints (like someone holding you back physically).
Subtle forces—social norms, psychological conditioning, cultural expectations—can limit your choices without triggering the sensation of being constrained.
4. Determinism of mental processes
Neuroscience shows that many decisions are initiated in the brain before we become consciously aware of them.
Feeling free happens after your brain has already started acting, so the feeling is a post-hoc sensation, not evidence of genuine free will.
5. Confusion between opportunity and freedom
People often equate having options with being free.
But having options doesn’t mean you can truly choose independently—your preferences, upbringing, genetics, and environment can still dictate the outcome.
6. Psychological satisfaction vs. metaphysical reality
The sensation of freedom can provide emotional or psychological comfort (autonomy, control, satisfaction) without implying that free will exists in a metaphysical sense.
Feeling free is more about subjective perception, not objective freedom of the will.
7. Reactive adaptation
Even when “forced” choices are removed, humans can feel free because the mind adapts to circumstances and interprets them as self-directed.
This is more a cognitive framing than evidence of real freedom of choice.
Bottom line: Feeling free is mainly a measure of absence of obvious external force. It says almost nothing about whether your decisions are truly self-determined or if they’re still constrained by biological, psychological, or environmental causes.
APPENDIX
We often imagine that we want complete - or effectively complete - freedom to do whatever we desire. In reality, this “freedom” is largely imagined.
Why isn’t freedom as mere license true freedom? Because genuine freedom arises when our desires and our reason are aligned. Feeling free, however, can be deceptive: it can give the impression of liberty while actually fostering dependence on impulses or illusions. In other words, feeling free is not the same as truly being free, and this illusion can lead to consequences that limit rather than expand our autonomy.