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Freedom and Determinism

Freedom and Determinism

Fifth slideshow for an online course.

GeorgeMatthews

December 30, 2016
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  1. Freedom and Determinism How can we be free in a

    world of causes? George Matthews Spring 2017
  2. Everything that happens has a cause. We are often free

    to choose to do one thing or another. If I am caused to do something I am not free to do otherwise.
  3. Each of these claims seems to be true on its

    own, but can they all be true at the same time? Everything that happens has a cause. We are often free to choose to do one thing or another. If I am caused to do something I am not free to do otherwise.
  4. Everything that happens has a cause. We are often free

    to choose to do one thing or another. False If I am caused to do something I am not free to do otherwise. The Hard Determinist accepts that these two claims are true, and so denies that we are free.
  5. Everything that happens has a cause. False We are often

    free to choose to do one thing or another. If I am caused to do something I am not free to do otherwise. The Libertarian accepts that these two claims are true and so denies that everything we do is caused by prior events.
  6. Everything that happens has a cause. We are often free

    to choose to do one thing or another. If I am caused to do something I am not free to do otherwise. False The Compatibilist accepts that these two claims are true, and denies that being free and being caused are really opposed to each other.
  7. Everything that happens has a cause. We are often free

    to choose to do one thing or another. If I am caused to do something I am not free to do otherwise. The philosophical problem of freedom is the problem of showing which of these positions is true and thus what we have to give up: freedom, universal causation or the opposition between the two. ? ? ?
  8. What’s at stake . . . ! Our lives seem

    to be a series of real choices. Freedom is important.
  9. What’s at stake . . . ! Our lives seem

    to be a series of real choices. ! We hold people responsible for their actions and this requires that those actions are free. Freedom is important.
  10. What’s at stake . . . ! Our lives seem

    to be a series of real choices. ! We hold people responsible for their actions and this requires that those actions are free. ! If we are not free, life would be meaningless. Freedom is important.
  11. What’s at stake . . . ! Whatever happens seems

    to have a cause. Freedom is mysterious.
  12. What’s at stake . . . ! Whatever happens seems

    to have a cause. ! Explaining anything involves spelling out what caused it to happen. Freedom is mysterious.
  13. What’s at stake . . . ! Whatever happens seems

    to have a cause. ! Explaining anything involves spelling out what caused it to happen. ! As science progresses, more of our behavior can be explained and so less and less of it seems to be a matter of free choices. Freedom is mysterious.
  14. determinism Baron D’Holbach 1723 – 1789 Man’s life is a

    line that nature commands him to describe upon the surface of the earth, without his ever being able to swerve from it.
  15. determinism ! Determinism is based on the idea that whatever

    happens must have a cause. ! Thus our feeling that we make free choices is just a result of our ignorance of the real causes of our actions.
  16. determinism ! Determinism is based on the idea that whatever

    happens must have a cause. ! Thus our feeling that we make free choices is just a result of our ignorance of the real causes of our actions. ! But if determinism is true, why argue about it – aren’t our responses to the arguments in favor of it already determined?
  17. libertarianism William James 1842 – 1910 Of two alternative futures

    which we conceive, both may now be really possible; and the one become impossible only at that very moment when the other excludes it by becoming real itself.
  18. libertarianism ! Libertarians defend our common sense conception of ourselves

    as free agents. ! We feel like we are making choices freely and are not being caused to do one thing or another.
  19. libertarianism ! Libertarians defend our common sense conception of ourselves

    as free agents. ! We feel like we are making choices freely and are not being caused to do one thing or another. ! But can we trust our feelings about the causes of our actions?
  20. libertarianism ! Libertarians defend our common sense conception of ourselves

    as free agents. ! We feel like we are making choices freely and are not being caused to do one thing or another. ! But can we trust our feelings about the causes of our actions? ! Doesn’t science often violate common sense and show us the hidden causes of things?
  21. compatibilism W.T. Stace 1886 – 1967 Acts freely done are

    those whose immediate causes are psychological state in the agent. Acts not freely done are those whose immediate causes are states of affairs external to the agent.
  22. compatibilism ! Perhaps free acts are not uncaused acts, but

    acts caused by the right kinds of causes.
  23. compatibilism ! Perhaps free acts are not uncaused acts, but

    acts caused by the right kinds of causes. ! Free acts are autonomous – a result of our deliberate attempts to govern ourselves and not by swayed by outside influences.
  24. compatibilism ! Perhaps free acts are not uncaused acts, but

    acts caused by the right kinds of causes. ! Free acts are autonomous – a result of our deliberate attempts to govern ourselves and not by swayed by outside influences. ! But what if we fail to live up to the standard of acting autonomously, is this fact caused by something outside of our control?
  25. compare and contrast ! Acting freely can be contrasted with

    being coerced. ! Only someone who is autonomous or self-governing is free in this sense.
  26. compare and contrast I’m not going to work because I

    quit. I’m not going to work because I got fired.
  27. compare and contrast I’m not going to work because I

    quit. I’m not going to work because I got fired. We are free to leave a job because it doesn’t suit our well-considered plans, but given the role of bosses in our society, getting fired leaves us with no say in the matter.
  28. compare and contrast I gave some money to the charity

    because I wanted to help. I gave some money to the man who pointed a gun at me.
  29. compare and contrast I gave some money to the charity

    because I wanted to help. I gave some money to the man who pointed a gun at me. Threats of force are ways of coercing us by pre- senting us with offers we cannot reasonably refuse while acts of charity are our own choices, unless we are swayed by heavy handed emotional appeals.
  30. compare and contrast I take drugs because I want to

    relax after a long day at work.
  31. compare and contrast I take drugs because I want to

    relax after a long day at work. I take drugs because I am hopelessly addicted and I can’t stop myself.
  32. compare and contrast I take drugs because I want to

    relax after a long day at work. I take drugs because I am hopelessly addicted and I can’t stop myself. Addictions push us to do things that we often later regret and compel us to act against our own best interests. Responsible use of drugs or alcohol fits in with our larger goals and self-image.
  33. existentialism and freedom Jean Paul Sartre 1905 – 1980 Freedom

    is what you do with what’s been done to you.
  34. existentialism and freedom ! Existentialism is a philosophical standpoint focused

    on our experience of our own lives. ! It downplays metaphysical questions about the nature of things and emphasizes the predicament and dilemmas we find ourselves in – knowing we are going to die and that it is up to us what meaning our lives have.
  35. existentialism and freedom ! Existentialism is a philosophical standpoint focused

    on our experience of our own lives. ! It downplays metaphysical questions about the nature of things and emphasizes the predicament and dilemmas we find ourselves in – knowing we are going to die and that it is up to us what meaning our lives have. ! Freedom for existentialists is built in to the human condition – even the refusal to choose is something we are responsible for.