1 Free Will Flashcards
Who said: ‘in moral, the proper worth of an absolutely good will consists precisely in the freedom of the principle of action from all influences.’
Kant
What does Kant think about free will?
That humans are free to make rational choices, and that without freedom the possibility of making moral choices is denied.
Who believes that moral responsibility requires freedom?
Libertarians
Why are libertarians incompatibilists?
They think free will is incompatible with determinism.
Who said: ‘man chooses not of necessity but freely’
Aquinas
Who says character traits that may develop in life experience may have formed indeterministically in self forming actions, our actions may flow from our character yet are free from determinism
Robert Kane
What is John Locke’s analogy of a man in a locked room?
He might never choose to try to leave the room, but believes he could by walking through the door.
Who thinks we might believes we have free will and feel we can choose many options but in fact out moral choices are determined by factors beyond our control?
John Locke, who uses the analogy of a man in a locked room to illustrate this.
What was McKenna’s analogy of a poker player?
That one player has no power over the other player drawing a card that allows the other player to beat him.
Who suggests that if we don’t have freedom we shouldn’t be blamed by punishments?
McKenna, who uses the analogy of a poker player to show that because the player had no freedom over the outcome he can’t be blamed for losing.
What did Aristotle say about being wicked?
That if a man does wicked acts because of his character, he is responsible for forming the wicked character in the past from which the acts came.
What does Dennet think about moral responsibility when you couldn’t do otherwise?
You are morally responsible even if you couldn’t have done otherwise. He uses the example of Luther breaking from the Catholic Church saying ‘I could do no other’ - he is not disowning responsibility but taking full responsibility for acting on his free will.
What does Kane think about self forming actions?
We often act according to a will already formed, but it was formed in the past by our own actions caused by our free will.
What does Kane say about free will and ultimate responsibility?
That to have responsibility there can be no earlier influence sufficient enough to determine our subsequent actions - they must be causally undetermined, so he is an incompatiblist.
Who said ‘ought implies can’ and what does it mean?
Kant - if we feel a moral imperative we must be able to do it.
