Free Will and Determinism
- Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy exploring fundamental questions about reality.
- It seeks to understand the most fundamental way of describing reality.
- The central question: What is the world really like at its core?
The Puzzle of Free Will and Determinism
- The discussion will focus on the debate between free will and determinism.
- A hypothetical scenario: Being kidnapped and forced to kill someone.
- If someone is forced to commit a crime against their will (e.g., by someone as strong as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson), they are not morally or legally to blame.
- The person forcing the action is the one to be blamed.
Thesis 1: We Have Free Will
- The concept of free will is fundamental to law, ethics, and our understanding of the world.
- The assumption is that humans are not robots; they can make choices and are responsible for their moral and immoral actions.
- To be free means to have the ability to do otherwise.
- Free will, according to the libertarian definition, implies having multiple options and not being forced into a specific action.
Thesis 2: Determinism Is True
- Determinism: Given a complete description of the world at any point in the past (e.g., the time of the dinosaurs) combined with the laws of physics (specifically, Einstein's laws), the future is necessarily determined.
- Einstein's laws of physics are considered deterministic: The past, combined with these laws, guarantees what will happen in the future.
The Incompatibility of Free Will and Determinism
- The core puzzle: How can both free will and determinism be true simultaneously?
- Determinism suggests that everything that will happen is already predetermined, which seems inconsistent with the idea of free will.
- The future appears open and dependent on our choices, but determinism implies that all actions are already set.
The Case of Mark the Murderer
- A scenario: Mark premeditates and commits the murder of Bob.
- Mark is morally culpable and should face legal consequences.
- The question: Could Mark have done otherwise?
- Thesis 1 (free will) suggests yes, Mark could have chosen not to murder Bob.
- Thesis 2 (determinism) suggests no; if determinism is true, Mark's actions were predetermined.
- If determinism is true, it was predetermined since the time of the dinosaurs that Mark would murder Bob.
The Dilemma
- If someone is kidnapped and forced to commit a terrible action, they are not to be blamed because they couldn't have done otherwise.
- However, if determinism is true, Mark also couldn't have done otherwise, as his actions were predetermined by the laws of physics.
- The question arises: How can we morally differentiate between someone forced by a kidnapper and someone