free will and determinism Flashcards
fatalism
the future is determined and will occur regardless of what you do
fatalism crit
regards statements about the future as true or false before they happen
just because one of the two will necessarily happen, doesn’t mean either of them will occur with necessity
physical determinism
laplace
all events in the universe are caused immediately preceding events
laplaces demon could predict everything if it had all data and the ability
*inductive argument- Hume
hard determinism
spinoza- theory of universal causation
no free will as a result of physical determinism
holbach
Holbach applies theory of universal causation to humans so humans are determined- hard determinism
*assumes humans are only physical
honderich
praise and blame are erroneous as a result of hard determinism
* Derrett punishment as forward looking rehabilitation
Libet’s experiment
brain activity before decision consciously made
however libet himself denies this undermines free will as still have power of veto
principle of alternate possiblities
a person has free will iff they could have done otherwise
Leopold and Loeb case
Darrow employs psychological determinism for their unmitigated murder
wins case
Virginian man
molests daughter only when has a tumour
happens twice
support for physical determinism and honderich
self control
Churchland
self control of desires as criterion for free will for a working society which requires responsibility
necessity for a “causal vacuum” simply a “rigid philosophical tradition”
soft determinism
free will is being internally determined
Frankfurt
if you think you have a choice you are morally responsible
soft determinism criticism
can’t really determine between internal and external causes as both physical
compatibilism
both free will and universal theory of causation
moral freedom
free if caused by an agents beliefs or desires
Frankfurt desires
first order desire- object is in the world
second order desire- object is a first order desire
fits with everyday notions of free will
Frankfurt desires criticism
second order desires no less causally determined
Nelson
lack of free will is when the action is determined regardless of rational deliberation
Hume on free will
compatibilist
free if the result of internal “willings and desires” rather than external compulsion or “violence” ie coercion
Hume libertarianism crit
“negation of necessity and causes” firstly not true and if it did would make morality impossible as it cannot be linked to free will- “uniformity of nature” evidence for causation
Descartes’ dualism
libertarianism
dualism crits
incoherence of interactonalism
violation of the law of conservation of energy
neural dependence
rationale determined anyway?
Sartre’s existentialism which is libertarianism
no universal human nature and God not real
human existence precedes human essence so we determine ourselves
