About 2 months ago, I (Matthew Brake) was invited to debate Professor Gary Andrews, a psychology professor at Lehigh Carbon Community College in Schnecksville, PA to participate in a debate about the existence of Free Will. Professor Andrews contended that human beings do not have free will, and I argued for a (constrained) free will. The debate was snowed out in March, but I’m glad we were able to reschedule for April. There isn’t much in the way of theological or religious content in the debate, but I wanted to go ahead and share it with everybody.

Let me first say that Professor Andrews and the LCCC Psychology Club were amazing hosts! Community colleges sometimes have a reputation for having students who aren’t really engaged with or excited about the life of their campus, but I was impressed by the engagement of all the students that I met. Additionally, Professor Andrews was an excellent host and great conversation partner.

I have posted the debate below along with a minute-by-minute breakdown of the debate. The audio quality, while a bit uneven, is still able to capture all of the portions of the debate (the Audio Visual Club at LCCC actually created a video of the event which is forthcoming, so I’m hoping that will be available soon, along with their much more superior audio quality).

Introduction and Opening Remarks: 0:00 – 11:30

Talk by Professor Gary Andrews: 11:30 – 23:24 (Around the 22:24 minute mark, Professor Andrews showed a video by John Dylan Haynes, which I edited out of the file I recorded. However, the portion Professor Andrews shows is roughly between minutes 50:26-55:32 on the original documentary, found here)

Talk by Matthew Brake: 23:24 -53:35

Roundtable Discussion and Audience Q & A: 53:35 – 2:11:59