Libertarianism Flashcards
hume quote on libertarianism
‘power of acting or not acting, according to the determination of the will’
libertarian evidence that we are free
- sense of making moral decisions
- conscious of deliberating
- perceive ourselves as free agents
- essential to trust this to avoid scepticism
why do determinists and libertarians clash
determinists
- necessary truth that we cannot be free
- making free choices is a delusion (cause and effect)
- experiences of freedom does not mean we have it
libertarians
- contingent truth, cannot be truth
- if I experience being free, I am free –> we act as if we are free, so we are
- if determinists reject this experience as truth, what other empirical truths are ignored
2 forms of libertarianism
- liberty of spontaneity –> certain things can impact freedom but we can resist them
- liberty of indifference –> completely free, no constrains like genes, environment, upbringing
personality vs moral self
- personality: experience and upbringing
- moral self: can override this, resist temptation
- chooses freely independent of upbringing and conditioning
implications on moral responsibility due to libertarianism
- we have moral responsibility
- can be praised/punished
- only we can be held accountable for our actions, not those outside ourselves
implication for religious beliefs due to libertarianism
- praise/punishment from God can be given
- answers problem of evil
- however: God’s omniscience and omnipotence is questioned –> does he know everything/can do everything if
1. our choices are separate and not determined
2. the power to go to heaven or hell lies with us not Him
moderate libertarianism
- external world: deterministic
- affecting living beings
- environment, society, genetics, personality –> affects how we act
- paralysis of pure freedom
- ‘an act of which the self is the sole author’ CH Campbell
mill’s libertarianism
- individual freedom not destroyed by state authority
- strength of community from individuals –> individuals need free will in their community for the community to cultivate development
- free speech: helps develop humanity
- authorative state stifles this
- individuality requires free speech and actions
- form our identity based on this
scientific libertarianism
- dr angela sirigu
- parietal cortex found to choose which possible movement to send to premotor cortex
- ‘specific brain regions…consciousness of your movement’
moral self and lib
- kant: we are totally free, which allows us to perform our duty
- moral self makes decisions
- overides personality and makes undetermined choice
- decision making process: we do not know what we are going to do
strengths of libertarianism
- common sense argument: compatible with how your view yourself; you experience and act as if you are free, so we are
- compatible with ideas of heaven and hell –> punishment and reward
- also compatible with legal system –> moral responsibility
- scientific support with parietal cortex
- take into account factors, realistic
