Liberta situata: la liberta oltre il libero arbitrio

Starting from an analysis of the phenomenology of free action, this paper proposes a hypothesis on the functioning of the mechanisms of choice and a critical analysis of the concepts that sub-stantiate the idea of free will: will, indifference, indecision, personal identity, and deliberation. The absence of concrete experiential evidence concerning free will leads to the formulation of the idea of ‘pseudo-determinism’, and an analysis of the Spinozian theory of freedom introduces a brief illustration of the concept of ‘situated freedom’, the freedom left once the traditional conception of free will has been put aside, based on the awareness of the necessity that governs events as a means of satisfying one’s fundamental will to pursue pleasure and escape pain.