Free Will and Libertarianism Flashcards
Hospers
tuna fish salad and a blueberry pie
‘the example is of course absurd, but may it not be that there is some combination of factors that regularly lead to homicide? when theses are discovered it will be foolish, pointless and immoral to hold people responsible for their crime”
St Pauls letters on predestination
‘For those god foreknew he also predestined, for those he predestined he also called, for those he called he also justified; for those he justified he also glorified’
Calvin on predestination
‘he does not create everyone in the same condition, he ordains eternal life for some and eternal damnation for others’
Jesus on predestination
‘many are called but few are chosen’ Matthew
Background to predestination
Martin Luther
Calvin
dictionary definition of predestination
- the act of predestining or the condition of being predestined
- theology
a] the doctrine that god has foreordained all things; especially that God has elected certain souls to eternal salvation.
b] The divine decree foreordaining all souls to either salvation or damnation
Aquinas on free will
‘Man chooses not of neccessity but freely’
Conclusion for essay
- HD challenges the possibility to lead the good life.
- While some religions have traditions of predetermination within them and even elements of fate, for the most part human freedom to do go, to turn to god for instance, seems important.
- At the same time libertarianism, as the individuals right to chose , does not fit with the idea that religion has moral codes which must be followed.
When are you not free, if you believe in free will
1] loss of reason - problems with control and understanding e.g. Sz may be delusional etc
2] loss of volition- problems with impulse control e.g. Tourettes
3] Addiction- the individual originally makes the choice, however once addicted, arguably, there decisions are not pure and 1000% freely made.
Warburton on free will
A world in which we have freedom to choose, even if we choose wrong, is better than a world on strings
Religious view on free will
Theolgy: good god gave humans power over their actions (free agents) and held them responsible for their actions, humans will face divine retribution for their actions at death
Locks example on Hard determanism
man asleep in a locked room, believes he is free to leave until he tries
Honderich
‘all our choices, decisions, actions, intentions, other mental events are no more effects of other equally neccesitated events’
Hume
‘if we choose to remain at rest , we do, if we choose to move, we do’
Plato
‘your destiny shall not be allotted to you, you shall choose it for yousrelf’
C S Lewis
‘we all have a choice, but it makes a difference whether you act like Judas or John’
Galworthy
‘life is a tune, we dance’
Gohraba
‘people are naturally born libertarian until societies and democracies force them to change’
Freud
“Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility.”
Kennedy
“Victory has a hundred fathers and defeat is an orphan”
Kane
we have many character traits which have developed undetermanistically
Soft determinism
In contrast to hard determinism (which claims that determinism is incompatible with freedom), soft determinism says that we are determined and are nonetheless still free. According to the soft determinist, when the individual is the cause of his or her actions, he or she is said to act freely.
Compatibilism or soft determinism acknowledges that all events, including human actions, have causes; but it allows for free actions when the actions are caused by one’s choices rather than external forces.
