1. Bibliographic Entry
James and Stuart Rachels. The Case Against Free Will. Evolving Ideas: Focused Inquiry.
2014-2015 Edition. Melissa Johnson Ed. Plymouth: Hayden-McNeil Publishing, 2014.
285 – 297. Print.
2. Credibility/ Credentials/ Ethos of author
James Rachels
Studied at Mercer University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Taught at the
University of Richmond, New York University, the University of Miami, Duke University, and
the University of Alabama, Birmingham. He was a moral philosopher and medical ethicist who
wrote textbooks. Ignited a national debate on euthanasia, argued that there was no rational basis
for a distinction between killing and letting die, advocating active euthanasia.
Stuart Rachels
Studied at Emory University, Oxford University, and Syracuse University. Teaches philosophy
at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. Was the first American to attain the rank of chess
master before the age of twelve. Edited and released later editions of several of his father’s
books.
3. Main point/ thesis + brief summary
The main point of the Rachels essay was that we have very little free will. The reasons we do the
things we do are because of our environment—how we were brought up, our genes,
determinism, and luck. In the beginning of the essay, the Rachels brings up a question, which
was “Are People Responsible for What They Do?” and they believe that people are not. They
talk about Determinism and how everything happens due to causes. Nothing just happens for ‘no
reason.’ Our everyday actions have underlying reasons. They then go on to talk about
conditioning and how we are conditioned to do things when we are rewarded or when the
outcome is good following the action. After that they talked about whether or not we became
who we were because of luck. If any one of us were put into a bad environment, we would have
probably turned out bad. We are who we are because of our luck or unluckiness. Then they bring
up genes and how genes are also a big factor why we are who we are today, it may lean us
towards doing something, but it doesn’t rule every one of our actions and decisions as whether
we do it or not depend on other things. Which leads to the question if people were born bad and
the answer is yes, however they do not stay bad if they were brought up right and positively
influenced.
4. Quotes/ Questions/ Reactions
 “The human character is shaped by an individual’s genes and environment” (286)
 “Nature is strong and she is pitiless… she works in her own mysterious way, and we are
her victims. We have not much to do with it ourselves” (286)
 “The future is fixed and you have no power to change it” (287)
I’m not quite sure that I believe that our future is fixed. However, with the arguments that the
Rachels have presented why it is, is very compelling.


“Our ‘freedom’ is only an illusion created by our ignorance” (287)
“Not only did they act out the movements without surprise or fear, but they also produced
reasons for them” (288)
I found it really interesting that the subject who did not know anything about their brain being
electrically stimulated and believing that their movements were spontaneous made up reasons
why they did it. Everything that we do is for a reason.


“Conscious processes of thought and deliberation are, on his view, only rationalizations
for deeper forces hidden within the psyche” (290)
“Some of the most famous experiments in social psychology suggest that any of us might
behave badly if we were unlucky enough to be in the wrong circumstances” (291)
I agree with this. I feel that if we took a child and put him or her in two different environments
we would definitely see different personalities.

“Researchers now believe that our genes are equally important in shaping our
personalities, and our genes cannot be changed by conditioning—no matter how
vigorous” (292)