1. PHILOSOPHY 100 (Ted Stolze)
Notes on James Rachels,
Problems from Philosophy

2. Chapters Eight and Nine: The Debate over Human Freedom

3. Three Basic Positions regarding the Metaphysical Analysis of Human Freedom
Determinism = “no human actions are free”
Libertarianism = “at least some human actions are free”
Compatibilism = “all human actions are both free and determined at the same time”

4. Three Ways to Test the Plausibility of a Philosophical Theory
Case study (e.g., Leopold/Loeb)
Scientific experiment (e.g., Milgram, Twins studies)
Thought experiment (e.g., Frankfurt’s “Willing addict”)

5. The Determinist Argument
1. Everything we do is caused by forces over which we have no control.
2. If our actions are caused by forces over which we have no control, we do not act freely.
3. Therefore, we never act freely.
NOTE: If you challenge premise #1, then you are defending a version of libertarianism. However, if you challenge premise #2, then you are defending a version of compatibilism.

6. Two Types of Determinism
Social-Psychological (Situational)
Genetic
Neurological

7. Three Human Behavior Experiments
Obedience to Authority (Stanley Milgram)
Stanford Prison (Philip Zimbardo)
Good Samaritan (J.M. Darley and C.D. Batson)

8. Genetic Determinism
Twin studies
People are born good or bad

9. Neurological Determinism
Benjamin Libet’s Experiments (

10. Four Libertarian Responses
The argument from experience
The argument that the world is not a deterministic system
The argument that we cannot predict our own decisions (see Richard Holton on “frustrators”:
The argument from accountability

11. Two More Arguments for Human Freedom (*)
The experience of anxiety when making a decision (Jean-Paul Sartre)
The experience of willpower or self-control when not yielding to temptation and maintaining a resolution (Richard Holton)
(*) Not covered in Rachels

12. A Compatibilist Attempt at Reconciliation
“Free” doesn’t mean uncaused but only uncoerced; “thus, whether your behavior is free does not depend on whether it is caused; it only depends on how it is caused” (p. 126)

13. An Objection to Compatibilism
Basically it’s just a soft version of determinism

14. Freedom and Moral Responsibility
If we lack free will, then moral deliberation makes no sense.
If we lack free will, then we cannot hold people responsible for what they do.

15. Criteria of Moral and Legal Responsibility
1. You must have done the act in question.
2. The act must in some sense have been wrong.
3. You must have no excuse for having done it.

16. Examples of Excuses
Mistake
Accident
Coercion
Ignorance
Insanity