Free Will and Determinism: Lecture Notes

Announcements and Reminders

• Dairy Testing: The government has stopped testing dairy products for safety.
• Chicken and Food Quality: Testing for chicken and food quality may also be discontinued.
• Draft 2 Due: Draft two of the paper is due next Saturday, May 3rd.
  • No new material or discussion board posts next week.
  • Class time will be dedicated to revision strategies and paper work.
• SODES (Student Evaluations of the Course): Please fill out the student evaluations, aiming for at least 75% participation.

Discussion Board Questions

• The discussion board questions were particularly insightful and plentiful this week, indicating strong engagement with the material.

Draft 2 Preparation

• Review feedback from Draft 1.
• Re-familiarize yourself with your paper's topic and grade.
• Utilize office hours for assistance and feedback before submission.
• Office hours are underutilized; students are encouraged to attend.

Introduction to Free Will

• Free will is explored through metaphysics (what it is, if it exists) and ethics (what one should do).
• Free will relates to actions and choices.

Decision-Making and Moral Choices

• Moral decision-making is limited by possibilities and options.
• Free will is typically understood as the ability to have done otherwise.
• Example: Choosing what to wear involves selecting from available options.

Free Will and Responsibility

• Free will is considered necessary for holding people responsible for their actions.
• Responsibility is tied to actions that could have been done otherwise.
• This is essential for both reward and punishment.
• Actions done on purpose versus on accident elicit different reactions.

Hypothetical Scenario

• Accidental vs. Intentional Harm: Accidentally hitting a student versus intentionally striking them has different implications for blame and punishment.

The Experience of Choice

• Choosing involves the experience of acting on purpose with available options.
• Internal awareness of alternative possibilities.
• Free will influences judgments about trust and safety in relationships.

The Problem with "Could Have Done Otherwise"

• The ability to have done otherwise is problematic and may not exist.
• If this ability is absent, the basis for rewards and punishments is undermined.

Determinism Argument

1. Natural Laws: Everything is beholden to natural laws (physics, gravity, time, space).

2. Past Determines the Future: The way things were in the past dictates how they will be.

3. Humans Are Not Special: Human brains and bodies also adhere to natural laws.

   $Conclusion:$ All human behavior is determined; humans cannot do otherwise.

Implications of Determinism

• The feeling of having a choice is an illusion.
• Determinism undermines the concepts of responsibility, reward, and punishment.
• When choosing a shirt, past events and natural laws determine the choice, including the feeling of potential alternatives.

Questioning Determinism

• Challenge premise three: Are humans not special?
• Consider the complexity of human behavior compared to simpler systems.
• Explore the possibility of mental features or a soul that transcends natural laws.

Natural Laws Defined

• Natural laws are the features of reality studied by science.
• They describe the predictable and uniform behavior of the universe.
• Fate and destiny, if not synonymous with natural laws, are also incompatible with free will.

Free Will: All or Nothing

• Free will is typically considered an all-or-nothing concept in Western tradition.
• Determinism argues against the possibility of it.
• Human values and thoughts are determined by brain structure and natural laws.
• Human actions are part of a chain of events set in motion by prior causes.

The Nature of the Future

• The future is either predetermined or becomes determined.
• Events before one's birth influence current actions.
• Determinism suggests every aspect of existence is predetermined.

Emotional Response to Determinism

• Determinism can evoke feelings of helplessness, acceptance, or relief.
• It challenges the notion of personal credit for accomplishments.
• Religious responses often involve the idea of a soul.

God and Free Will (Common Response)

• Can God give humans free will, a special power not subject to natural laws?

Problems with Divine Omniscience

• If God is all-knowing, He knows future actions, negating free will.

• Humans must do what God knows they will do because God cannot be mistaken.

• God's knowledge and power make events predetermined.

• This view aligns with a version of determinism where God is the determining factor.

  • You may have Free Will but God knew it so your path is decided by that knowledge.

Alternative Religious Views

• Religions without an all-knowing god may still be subject to determinism unless they posit a special human power.

Cultural Perspectives on Free Will

• While conceptions of free will vary across cultures, the determinist claim is universal.

The Choice Dilemma

• Every choice is either made for a reason or for no reason.
• Reason-based choices are deterministic.
• Reason is often due to some feature about you and your history.
• Choices for no reason are random or arbitrary and also undermine free will.

Reason vs. Randomness

• Truly random choices are not connected to one's values of goals.

The Core Dilemma of Determinism

• You either choose for a reason (determined) or for no reason (random), but neither allows for free will.
• Recognizing the connection to the Wolf article, even without explicit background preparation.