You mentioned smart people and I wondered who you were talking about. Then you said Sam Harris who has a reputation for being a clueless idiot in philosophy circles.
Most philosophers are compatibilists, since that’s a good strong philosophical position. Harris is just saying libertarian free will doesn’t exist, but that’s irrelevant since that’s not what people really mean by the term.
I thought I might get pushback on the example. I honestly just googled and found a random person being Harris, but just add anyone who accepts spacetime/relativity and how it represents not what we experience. Or anyone who accepts that the mind predicts rather than observes reality, because our responses need to be faster than what we can process what we perceive. So even our direct perceptions are not quite exact.
The point, please focus on this point, is that it’s not a done deal that all accept free will. There exists a set of people who are smart and believe the opposite. I’m arguing against “everyone should think what I think”.
Edit: although to be honest if you convinced me otherwise I’d be 100% happy! “Most philosophers” (or my own “lots of smart people”) isn’t an argument I am moved by but I’ll go read up. My personal view is that the disappearance of time at the speed of light is incredibly powerful. I don’t feel we’ve explored the implications of that nearly enough. It either means the future impacts the past or super determinism is correct. Is there an alternative?
Most philosophers are compatibilists, since that’s a good strong philosophical position. Harris is just saying libertarian free will doesn’t exist, but that’s irrelevant since that’s not what people really mean by the term.