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In Judaism, we say "God ordains everything and yet free will is also granted." What could this contradiction possibly mean? I think it means that free will is granted as a phenomenon of experience, even though it does not exist in an ultimate way. How could it exist? Your mindstates are conditioned and learned; your brainstates are conditioned; where is a choice that arises without any conditions? And yet, that is only half of the story. On the level of experience, where we reside 99% of the time, of course there is free will, free choice, and, thus, responsibility. Often there's an anxiety about admitting the illusoriness of free will. We suppose that we will be diminished as humans, or that we will be unable to justify laws and judgments. Yet all the tragedy and brilliance that make human choice into human drama remains -- we just know their place better, and know better how to prevent them from causing so much pain. Free will, choice, and agency are phenomena of experience only. God ordains everything, and yet free will is granted.
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