IB Philosophy SL Exam - FREE WILL

metaphysics

branch of philosophy concerned with investigating the nature of reality; concerned with the big picture

ontology

the branch of metaphysics that concerns itself with what exists

agent

one who acts, the central problem of agency is to understand the difference between events happening in me or to me, and my taking control of events, or doing things

free will

when it comes about purely because of the agent’s willing it when she could have done otherwise

determinism

doctrine that every event has a cause for any event

classical mechanics

the physics (Newton) entails that everything is made of matter

conservation of information

given the state of the universe, what happens 10 years from now is written in the universe

Laplace’s Demon

if there was a supreme intelligence that had all the info about the universe then it would have everything it needed to know everything that has happened and will happen

hard determinism

the position that, accepting determinism, we do not have free will, we are not agents

soft determinism/compatibilism

the position that everything you should want from a notion of freedom is quite compatible with determinism

fatalism

the doctrine that what will be will be and entails the idea that human action has no influence

libertarianism

this view seeks to protect the reality of human free will by supporting that a free choice is not causally determined but not random either

emergence

humans are made up of particles but we experience ourselves as human beings, not as particles

levels of description

different ways of characterizing or understanding reality, ranging from the most fundamental to more complex, abstract, or emergent levels

intentional agency

the ability of a being to act purposefully and with a conscious intent

alternative possibilities

what’s needed for free will, you still have a choice

causal control of our actions

the degree to which an agent's own mental states, intentions, or other internal processes are causally responsible for their actions, and the extent to which these actions are free from external or prior causal influences