Issues Arising Free Will

Question 1

We have free choices. Arguments for

Answer 1

• The libertarian view of free will demands total freedom with no causality.
• Giving in to temptation or resisting temptation suggests autonomy and our experience thus tell us that we do make choices. Eg.upbringing/ psychological profile
• desires and wants suggest persuasion and the possibility of alternative decisions being made
• the fear of divine and or legal retribution and judgement suggests freedom otherwise religion and the idea of God would not make sense
• human freedom provides a solution to the problem of evil and suffering. E.g God is not responsible
• forced action suggests there is an alternative-free action

Question 2

We don’t have free choices. Arguments against

Answer 2

• god’s traditional attributes of omnipotence and omniscience restrict freedom or make freedom a total contradiction
• predestination teachings of Luther and Calvin do not allow for the free will of libertarian thought
• the teaching of hard determinism will not allow human autonomy of free will
• when people are coerced or forced into doing something it suggests a lack of freedom and one cannot prove any other alternative is possible

Question 3

Can you ever have true libertarianism unless you are in complete isolation? Yes

Answer 3

Total freedom must be separate from any causes and conditions-there must be complete autonomy of the will.

• the idea of a moral self suggests the level of independence is absolute and free from influence
• for a decision to be free and for religious ideas of reward and punishment to work, there must be a pure view of free will without any influence

Question 4

Does libertarianism require no influences to be truly free? No, it requires influences arguments

Answer 4

• a free choice affects the cause of events and determines other events, so how can it be totally independent?
• soft determinism theory allows for both interaction and independence of the will
• determinists argue that it is impossible to be totally free
• complete isolation does not mean no influence;rather it means separation and so libertarian thinking is justified

Question 5

What does true freedom mean?

Answer 5

If by true freedom we mean we act completely disconnectedly from anything else, any other experience or thought system, any other perceptions or beliefs, then we are not truly free

Question 6

What does Robert Kane argue?

Answer 6

We may have many character traits which have developed in our life experience, but these may have formed indeterministically, in self-forming actions. Our actions may flow from our character,and yet are still free from determinism

Question 7

Can we be held responsible for our actions? No

Answer 7

• real Liberty should mean just that, including consequences
• the teaching of hard determinists such as Ted Honderich means that we cannot be held morally responsible for our actions
• blame is subjective and thus unjustified when actions are objective

Question 8

Arguments for moral responsibility

Answer 8

• there is a need for punishment if our freedom of action causes harm to others
• the idea of causation does not necessarily exclude freedom according to soft determinists. It is possible to hold both a lack of freedom and responsibility, because the kind of freedom which people have is not uncaused free will.
• if we are aware of consequences then we can restrain our behaviour
• if there is freedom there must be responsibility; freedom and responsibility go hand in hand

Question 9

Example of moral responsibility

Answer 9

Sense of justice in society

Question 10

Strengths of libertarianism and free will

Answer 10

• libertarianism recognises moral responsibility and this also encourages people to seek behaviour that is constructive and meaningful to society
• it explains the moral diversity of our world given the fact that different people will make different decisions
• the belief in free will justifies reward and punishment sanctions and makes sense of things, justifying the parameters of our societies and legal systems

Question 11

Weaknesses of libertarianism and free will

Answer 11

• libertarianism does not recognise the finding of science that everything is determined and interconnected
• it does not allow for conditioning of behaviour
• it cannot explain why actions and behaviour are chaotic if uncaused
• it has the problem that there is conflict when one person’s Liberty opposes the freedom of another person, meaning that no one can be said to have true Liberty

Question 12

Give a quote from Benedict Spinoza

Answer 12

Men think themselves free on account of this alone, that they are conscious of their actions and ignorant of the causes of them

Question 13

What does Spinoza’s quote mean?

Answer 13

While we have a sense of freedom, a sense of deliberating over our options, determinists maintain this is an illusion of freedom

Question 14

What does John Locke’s analogy of the locked room mean?

Answer 14

We may believe that we have free will and we may feel that we can choose any number of options, when in truth our moral choices are determined by factors beyond our control

Question 15

Strengths of determinism

Answer 15

• moral responsibility is recognised in soft determinism
• it is in accordance with what we know from behavioural science
• it is in agreement with what we know about psychology
• it is in line with what we know from biology and genetics

Question 16

Weaknesses of determinism

Answer 16

• determinism is too inflexible a system to be true and is not always in accordance with what we actually experience
• it cannot explain human nature and behaviour effectively though
• it denies all moral responsibility and this would be devastating for society
• it casts doubt on our hopes for the future and how we consider the morality of others.
• we are mistaken to praise some people for being good or to blame others for being bad. E.g murder-seems wrong to punish people for acting immorally