PHILOSOPHY OF
KNOWLEDGE & REALITY
WEEK 9_DAY2: FREE WILL VS. DETERMINISM
REVIEW:
ARGUMENTS AGAINST FREE WILL
Using Coyne‘s “tape of your life” analogy.
• Argument # 1 – Theological Argument
• God knows all, including the entire tape of your life.
• Argument # 2 – Pre-existing Future Argument
• The future is already known. Your tape already made.
• Argument # 3 – Psychological Argument
• All your behavior determined by genes and past experiences.
• If you rewind the tape to the point you make a decision, no psychological
condition would be different, so you would make the same decision again.
• Argument # 4 – Physical Argument
• All your choices are the result of physical interactions in your body.
• If you rewind the tape to the point you make a decision, no physical
condition would be different, so you would make the same decision again.
FREE WILL VS. DETERMINISM
Incompatibilism
Free will and determinism can’t
both be true.
Compatibilism
Free will and determinism can
both exist.
• Indeterminism:
• Random stuff happens. Some, but
not all, events are fixed by the past.
• Libertarianism:
• A person can act spontaneously; not
completely determined by their past.
So free will exists.
• Hard Determinism:
• Determinism is true, so there is no free
will.
• Free will exists if your choices
are determined by your
desires/wishes.
HW # 4
MEMORABLE RESPONSE
Defense against the accusation that you cheated on
your significant other…
“Now baby, you can’t really say that I really cheated because
we are all dust in the wind.
I mean if you think about it,
What makes her particles any different from yours?”
MORALITY AND MINORITY REPORT
Precrime and Precogs
If precrime is correct 75 % of time, should it be implemented?
• If you think not, then what percentage would suffice?
In the film, there had been no murders in 6 years due to the
activity of the precrime division. Is this a good enough result to
continue it’s usage?
If not, then are we morally responsible for deaths that precrime
could have prevented?
Now what if we’re talking about racial profiling. Is there a
difference?
FREE WILL & ETHICS:
MORALITY AND MINORITY REPORT
When the husband at the beginning of the film sees his
wife in bed with another man, did he have a choice
whether or not to kill them?
The Dilemma:
• If he did, then is it morally justified to arrest him before he
committed any crime since he may not have done it?
• If he did not, then is he morally responsible for what he
may have done since he wouldn’t have freely “chose”
to do it?
So would precrime arrests ever be justified?
FREE WILL & ETHICS
How responsible are they?
• Child
• Person with Psychological Disorder; legally insane.
• A person coerced at gunpoint.
• Startled by snake
• Sleep Walker
• Influenced by Antidepressant
• About to be hit by drunk driver.
FREE WILL & ETHICS
The Big Question:
If free will does not exist, how can we be held morally
responsible for our behaviors?
WHAT TO DO ABOUT FREE WILL?
Believe we have it or not believe?