Exam 1 free will

Compatibilism

The view that free will is compatible with determinism; agents can be free even if their actions are determined, so long as they act according to their desires and reasons.

Pragmatism

A philosophical approach emphasizing practical consequences and lived experience over abstract theorizing; in free will, it supports ideas that have useful moral or social consequences.

Naturalism

The view that human behavior and decision-making can be fully explained by natural causes, such as biology or psychology, without invoking supernatural or non-physical explanations.

Positive Freedom

Freedom as self-mastery or self-realization; being free by acting in accordance with one's authentic self or rational will.

Negative Freedom

Freedom as the absence of external constraints or interference; being free to do what one wants without being stopped by others.

Phenomenology

The study of conscious experience; in free will, it refers to how agents subjectively experience themselves as free or as making choices.

Principle of Alternate Possibilities

The idea that a person is morally responsible for what they’ve done only if they could have done otherwise.

Philosophical Conservatism

The tendency to preserve our everyday moral practices (like holding others responsible) even if theoretical arguments challenge their metaphysical basis.

Constraints/Unfreedoms

External or internal factors (e.g. coercion, addiction, mental illness) that prevent someone from acting freely or making choices as they otherwise would.

Reactive Attitudes

Emotional responses like resentment, gratitude, and forgiveness that presuppose others are morally responsible; central to Strawson’s defense of free will.

Pessimism in Free Will Debate

The belief that if determinism is true, then moral responsibility is undermined—typically held by incompatibilists.

Optimism in Free Will Debate

The belief that even if determinism is true, we can still make sense of moral responsibility—typically held by compatibilists.

First order vs second order desires

AI Overview

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First-order desires are desires for things that are not themselves desires, while second-order desires are desires about desires. For example, wanting a sandwich is a first-order desire, while wanting to want a salad is a second-order desire. 

Revised PAP

A person is not morally responsible for x if he did x only because he could not have done otherwise.

Negative Freedom

Freedom from

Positive Freedom

Freedom to

pap

you were free to x if you could’ve done otherwise than x