Determinism and Free Will

Determinism Two Types

• Hard Line Determinism

  • Holback, Calvin

  • Determinism + Incompatibilism

• Soft Line Determinism

  • Hume, Stace

  • Determinism + Compatibilism

HLD Arguments

• Classical Hard Line Incompatibilist Argument

  • McKenna and Coates

  • Free will = you could have done otherwise, we cannot have done otherwise so there is no free will

  • Deductive Nomological Model of Scientific Explanation

    • deducing an event from laws and initial conditions

    • Why did the apple hit Newton’s head? Why did Newton sit under the tree?

    • Counter - perhaps the laws of psychology are not deterministic but statistical

• Explanation by Computer Programs

  • Input —> CPU —> Output

  • Counter - there are nondeterministic machines

HLD Critcisms

• Moral Responsibility

  • determinism is inconsistent with moral responsibility

  • Counter - We can continue with punishment anyways, utilitarian theory of punishment

• Counterexamples

  • people under the same laws and conditions would behave the same way —> Twin Studies

  • Counter - Even identical twins do not have the exact same conditions

SLD Arguments

• Best of Both Worlds

  • it preserves both the science of human behavior and the commonsense notion of freewill

  • Counter - reconciliation projects are only good if they work

• The Classification Argument

  • Stace’s Table (Free = Ghandi fasting, Not Free = starving in desert)

  • Counter - What if Ghandi wanted to free India but his desires were put into him by a brain washer? Wanting something might not just mean you choose it freely

SLD Criticisms

• Counterexamples

  • Acting freely but not doing what you want (homework, donating, etc.)

    • Counter - conflicting desires (short term, long term)

  • Not acting freely but doing what you want (cult, “God puppet”, etc)

    • Counter - the desires must be caused in the right way

• Buridan’s Ass

  • The choice between A and B is equally probable and desirable —> this would lead to inaction

  • Counter - There are still causes to force A versus B, in reality we would make a choice

Liberitarianism

• Campbell, Kane

• Indeterminism + Incompatibilism

• Counterfactual Freedom

• Versions - No Causal, Agency Causal, Event Causal

L Arguments

• Return of Moral Responsibility

  • best theory allowing for moral responsibility

  • Counter - Acts are caused by nothing rather than responsible action

• Introspection

  • proof we act in a nondetermined way

  • Counter - not deep enough and not reliable

L Critcisms

• Frankfurt Cases

  • Rejecting the Principle of Alternate Possibilities

  • The Theoretical Situation of Jones - no alternatives

• Challenges from Science

  • Libet - brain activity prior to a decision

    • Counter - attention not initiation, slow motor control

  • Bargh - behavior is modified by stereotypes

  • Mathews and Canon - behavior is modified by extraneous factors like noise

Deeper Selves and Responsibility Versions

• Frankfurt

  • second-order

• Gary Watson

  • underlying values

• Susan Wolf

  • “sane”

Hypothetical Case of JoJo

• values must be “sane” and normal

• upbringing influences both second-order desires and values