During the second half of the twentieth century, psychologists began to explore the phenomenon of mind control, also called “thought control,” behavior change technology, compliance-gaining influence, thought reform, psychosocial manipulation, and a few other other terms.
Whatever words are used to label it, the question is whether the psychological exploration of thought control is relevant to the philosophical debate about free will. Part of that debate is whether, and how, a person’s desires, especially desires leading to actions, are determined.
The techniques of thought control allow the practitioner to shape another individual’s desires and beliefs, without the individual’s being aware of it. On a low level, this can be, e.g., advertising on television. On a higher level, it can be “brainwashing” which changes a person’s foundational beliefs.
The discussion of free will, obviously, enters into the field of ethics at some point. There are those who, e.g., argue that prostitution is permissible if all involved parties are consenting.
But how does one understand the word ‘consent’ in the framework of thought control? A prostitute might say that she or he is voluntarily engaging in this activity, and has freely consented to it. If, however, the beliefs and desires which cause the prostitute to consent were installed into the mind of the prostitute without the prostitute’s knowledge or consent, then can it be said that the prostitute is truly consenting?
Note that, in this scenario, the prostitute is not coerced. The prostitute believes that she or he is freely consenting. But can consent be ‘free’ if it is implanted into the mind from the outside, and implanted without the knowledge or awareness of the individual? The prostitute may believe that she or he is freely consenting, but that belief itself may have been artificially installed into the prostitute’s mind.
In any case, it is plausible to suggest that some aspects of the “free will” debate may need to be revisited in light of psychological research about thought control.
In 1961, Robert J. Lifton published Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism. In 1957, Robert J. West, et al., published Brainwashing, Conditioning, and DDD (Debility, Dependency, and Dread). In 1961, Edgar Schein published Coercive Persuasion: A Socio-Psychological Analysis. Steven Hassan has published several books on the subject.
Philosophers engaged in the topic of “free will” would be well advised to explore these writings.
When beliefs and desires are installed into the mind of an individual without that individual’s awareness or consent, how do those beliefs and desires differ from normal beliefs and desires? How do beliefs and desires normally arise in the mind of an individual? If beliefs and desires are involuntary and ineluctable in normal situations, are they different in any significant way from the beliefs and desires installed by means of thought control?
