Joe Lau's wiki: Main/Freewill

Freewill

Readings

• [Required] Conee and Sider (2005) Riddles of Existence: A Guided Tour of Metaphysics. Oxford University Press. Chapter 6. ebook: hkulib:b3967363

The importance of freewill

• Feeling and conception of human agency
• Values and virtues
• Moral responsibility

Basic philosophical positions

• Determinism - "Every event is necessitated by antecedent events and conditions together with the laws of nature."
  • Why determinism? Newtonian physics, theology
• Indeterminism - Determinism is false.
  • Why indeterminism? Quantum physics.

• Compatibilism - Freewill is compatible with determinism.
  • Example: X decided to do Y freely = (1) X decided to do Y, and (2) X could have decided otherwise if X wanted to.
    • Big bang 1 → X wants to do Y → X decides to do Y.
    • Big bang 2 → X does not want to do Y → X decides not to do Y.
• Libertarianism
  • Freewill exists.
  • Freewill is incompatible with determinism.
  • (Therefore) determinism is false.

Does indeterminism help?

1. It has to be shown that low-level indeterminism makes a difference at the level of mental processes.
2. Not clear how there can be freewill if our actions are not due to us but some random events.
   • "X decides to do Y freely" requires: the decision to do Y is up to X.
   • If it is a random matter whether X decides to do Y, then the decision is not up to X.
   • For the physicalist, nothing explains why X decides to do Y rather than something else.
   • Not a problem for the substance dualist.

Category.mind