Frankfurt's Higher-Order Desire Theory and Susan Wolf's Sane Deep Self View

Flashcards covering the philosophical debate over free will, focusing on Harry Frankfurt's higher-order desires, deep self views, and Susan Wolf's sanity condition as illustrated by the Jojo case.

Free Will (Frankfurt's Definition)

The power to act on the desire you want to act on; achieved by forming a second-order preference for a first-order desire that manifests in action.

Determinism

A big picture view where the state of the world at any given time guarantees or necessitates a single unique future at the next time; implies all current actions were determined by the state of things $70$ million years ago.

Compatibilism

The philosophical tradition of trying to reconcile the existence of free will and responsibility with the truth of determinism.

Deep Self Views

A family of theories of free will claiming that responsible agents are those whose actions are controlled by their wills, and whose wills are controlled by their deeper selves.

Deep Self (Watson's View)

A version of the deep self defined as having a will that reflects your values.

Deep Self (Taylor's View)

A version of the deep self defined as a kind of act of identification with certain desires you have.

The Jojo Case

A counterexample by Susan Wolf involving the son of a dictator who is raised in a cloistered kingdom and propagandized to be a brutal ruler; he acts on his deep self but lacks responsibility due to his upbringing.

Sanity (Condition 1)

The requirement that an agent knows what they are doing in terms of basic awareness of their physical surroundings and actions.

Sanity (Condition 2)

The requirement that an agent knows whether what they are doing is right or wrong; a condition Jojo fails because his moral compass is broken.

The Sane Deep Self View

Susan Wolf's improved theory stating a person has free will when: 1) their deep self controls their will, and 2) they are sane.

Moral Objectivism

The view that there are correct right and wrong answers to moral questions, independent of an individual's distorted beliefs (e.g., Jojo is wrong about morality just as a flat-earther is wrong about reality).

Incompatibilism

The view that there is an additional condition for free will that would be undermined if determinism were true.