PHILOSOPHY 100
(Ted Stolze)
Notes on James Rachels,
Problems from Philosophy
Chapters Eight and Nine:
The Debate over Human Freedom
Three Basic Positions regarding
the Metaphysical Analysis of
Human Freedom
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Determinism = “no human actions are free”
Libertarianism = “at least some human actions
are free”
Compatibilism = “all human actions are both
free and determined at the same time”
Three Ways to Test the Plausibility
of a Philosophical Theory
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Case study (e.g., Leopold/Loeb)
Scientific experiment (e.g., Milgram, Twins
studies)
Thought experiment (e.g., Frankfurt’s “Willing
addict”)
The Determinist Argument
1. Everything we do is caused by forces over
which we have no control.
2. If our actions are caused by forces over
which we have no control, we do not act
freely.
3. Therefore, we never act freely.
NOTE: If you challenge premise #1, then you are
defending a version of libertarianism. However, if you
challenge premise #2, then you are defending a
version of compatibilism.
Two Types of Determinism
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Social-Psychological (Situational)
Genetic
Neurological
Three Human Behavior
Experiments
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Obedience to Authority (Stanley Milgram)
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Stanford Prison (Philip Zimbardo)
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Good Samaritan (J.M. Darley and C.D. Batson)
Genetic Determinism
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Twin studies
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People are born good or bad
Neurological Determinism
Benjamin Libet’s Experiments
(http://youtu.be/fJPwULN7cYo)
Four Libertarian Responses
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The argument from experience
The argument that the world is not a
deterministic system
The argument that we cannot predict our own
decisions (see Richard Holton on “frustrators”:
https://youtu.be/iSfXdNIolQA)
The argument from accountability
Two More Arguments for Human Freedom
(*)
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The experience of anxiety when making a
decision (Jean-Paul Sartre)
The experience of willpower or self-control
when not yielding to temptation and
maintaining a resolution (Richard Holton)
(*) Not covered in Rachels
A Compatibilist Attempt at
Reconciliation
“Free” doesn’t mean uncaused but only uncoerced;
“thus, whether your behavior is free does not depend
on whether it is caused; it only depends on how it is
caused” (p. 126)
An Objection to Compatibilism
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Basically it’s just a soft version of
determinism
Freedom and Moral Responsibility
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If we lack free will, then moral deliberation
makes no sense.
If we lack free will, then we cannot hold people
responsible for what they do.
Criteria of
Moral and Legal Responsibility
1. You must have done the act in question.
2. The act must in some sense have been wrong.
3. You must have no excuse for having done it.
Examples of Excuses
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Mistake
Accident
Coercion
Ignorance
Insanity