Free Will Theories  Agency Theory: we define ourselves as agents through free choices: this we experience (and is what our theory should explain)  Person Theory: one’s will is free if he/ she has second- order desires to choose to act in certain ways; this distinguishes persons from non-free beings Harry Frankfurt (b. 1929) Objection to both theories: how can “we” be both cause & effect?

Determinism: All events (including human actions) have specific causes u Baron d’Holbach: the brain is material; its actions (e.g., thought, will) are dictated by physical laws, heredity, and environment ( )

(Hard) Determinism u Behavior is caused by unconscious desires and fears (Freud) or environment and heredity (Skinner). Freedom is an illusion; people are not responsible for their actions—though they can be held responsible for social purposes u Objections: how we can challenge or change our attitudes if we are determined? Why not explain behavior with reasons, not causes?

u Compatibilism (Soft Determinism): freedom is compatible with determinism, if freedom is understood as the ability to do what we want u Actions caused by our choices or character are free; actions caused by external forces (genetics, culture, upbringing, threats) are not free Choice/will (cause) Personality External forces Hard determinist reply: choices are caused by external forces. Freedom - Determinism Theories act (cause)

u A “free” act is simply one that is caused (i.e., preceded) by our choice or act of will. We are free when we can do what we want. Objection: aren’t choices caused by “external” forces (e.g., genetics, culture, upbringing)? Compatibilism/Soft Determinism: freedom is compatible with determinism Hume act choice/will/personality external threats/constraints cause (free) (not free)

Freedom - Determinism Theories u Indeterminism: like sub-atomic events, free actions are unpredictable, because nothing causes them u Objection: if free human actions are chance or random events, then we could not control our “free” actions or be responsible for them u Libertarianism: our free choices define our selves: this is what we experience (and is what our theory should explain) u Objection: how can “we” be both cause & effect?

u Freedom as an Assumption: Morality requires that we think of ourselves as free. As objects in the world, we are determined; but as conscious, choosing beings, we are free (Kant) u Existentialism: freedom & self-consciousness consist in our ability to conceive that which is not—and that could not be caused by what is u Objection: Wanting to believe in freedom does not make it true; besides, even that is determined Freedom - Determinism Theories

Time: Reality or Illusion? Time is the objective, fixed sequence of events in the world: “it” is real and does not change. The subjective experience of time as moving is illusory (McTaggart, Smart) Time is a mental construct in terms of which all phenomena are experienced as real (Kant) Objective time is a conceptual abstraction that fails to capture our real experience of duration and the passage from past to future (Bergson)

In Defense of Free Will: Thomas Reid u We are conscious of exerting our wills, deliberating, and thinking of ourselves as free to have done otherwise u If we are not free, regret, guilt, and holding others responsible for actions make no sense ( )

Freedom - Determinism Theories u Indeterminism: like sub-atomic events, free actions are unpredictable, because nothing causes them u Objection: if free human actions are chance or random events, then we could not control our “free” actions or be responsible for them u Agency Theory: our free choices define our selves: this is what we experience (and is what our theory should explain) u Objection: how can “we” be both cause & effect?

Fatalism: What happens could not have occurred otherwise u Propositions about future events (including human actions) are either true or false right now; so the future is unchangeable (Aristotle) u God knows what we will do in the future; so we cannot change the future (Augustine) Aristotle ( BCE) St. Augustine ( )

Determinism: All events (including human actions) have specific causes u Baron d’Holbach: the brain is material; so its actions (e.g., thought, will) are controlled by physical laws, heredity, and environment ( ) u Pierre-Simon Laplace: with a complete knowledge now of every particle in the universe, we could predict all future events ( )

Contemporary Explanations of Behavior Our behavior is caused by: u unconscious desires or fears and repressed memories (Freud) u environment, social conditioning (Skinner) u heredity, genes Objections: these accounts seem to make freedom an illusion. But (1) how are we able to change? And (2) why not explain behavior with reasons, not causes? S. Freud ( ) B.F. Skinner ( )

The Determinist Argument: All our actions are caused by forces over which we have no control. And if we have no control over our actions, we are not free. Responses: Libertarianism: some actions are free because they are not causally determined Compatibilism: even if all actions are causally determined, we can still be free

Libertarianism: Some human acts are undetermined 1. Argument from experience: we are conscious of deliberating and thinking of ourselves as free to have done otherwise Objection: this could be self-deception 2. Indeterminism: like sub-atomic events, free actions are only probable, not determined Objection: if free actions are random or only probable events, then we could not control or be responsible for them

More Libertarian Arguments 3.The impossibility of self-prediction: any prediction of our own behavior would affect (and thus change) that behavior Objection: predicting what we will do does not necessarily affect what we do 4. Moral accountability: if we are not free, then moral responsibility makes no sense Objection: maybe regret, guilt, and moral responsibility are unjustified