Transcript Smith’s Invisible Hand

Replies to the
Problem of Free Will
Introduction to Philosophy
Jason M. Chang
Lecture outline
1.
The problem of free will (revisited)
2.
Three replies to the problem of free will
A.
B.
C.
Hard determinism
Libertarianism
Compatibilism (soft determinism)
The problem of free will (revisited)
Scientific
worldview
Support
Causal
determinism
Causal determinism = the view that all events are the inevitable
consequence of both prior events and scientific laws
The problem of free will (revisited)
Prior events
Scientific laws
(prior dominos
falling, me tipping
the first domino,
etc.)
(law of gravity, laws of
thermodynamics, etc.)
Event – some
domino (D4) falls
Determinism  All events in the universe are like this.
Causal determinism
May 12, 2015 at
EVC – I raise
my right hand
BIG
BANG
Present day
Big chain of cause and effect
The problem of free will (revisited)
The problem
1.
We have free will
2.
Determinism is true
Beliefs in
tension
How should we address the tension between these two
beliefs?
Hard determinism
The problem
1.
We have free will
2.
Determinism is true
HARD DETERMINISM
Beliefs in
tension
Hard determinism
HARD DETERMINISM
Claim 1
Determinism
is true
Claim 2
Free will and
determinism are
incompatible
Claim 3
NO FREE
WILL
Hard determinism
Worries about hard determinism
•
Recall Joe vs. Mo
•
Moral responsibility assumes
free will
•
If hard determinism is
right… ???
What worries me is
that if hard
determinism is
right, blame and
punishment goes
out the window.
So what?! We
simply need to
reform our social
and penal
institutions.
Defender of
hard
determinism
Hard determinism
Imagine a society in which we did away with blame
and punishment.
Instead of jail, an offender would be put into rehab
(treatment).
Instead of regarding him as a “bad” person, we
would regard him as a “ill” person (like a cancer
patient).
B.F. Skinner’s Beyond Freedom & Dignity (1971)
Libertarianism
The problem
1.
We have free will
2.
Determinism is true
LIBERTARIANISM
Beliefs in
tension
Libertarianism
LIBERTARIANISM
Claim 1
Determinism
is false
Claim 2
Free will and
determinism are
incompatible
Claim 3
WE HAVE
FREE WILL
Libertarianism
Birth
Death
Libertarianism maintains
that some events are
casually determined
Alternative path (not taken)
Causally determined path (taken)
Gap in causal chain
Why I am not a libertarian
Libertarianism
Modern science
No physical object can
move itself.
All motion of physical
objects is causally
determined by prior
causes and scientific
laws of nature.
How are human
beings any
different?
Libertarianism
Libertarianism
A physical object (i.e.,
the human being) can
escape the chain of
prior causes and the
laws of nature
A physical object (i.e.,
the human being) that
can move itself
Contrary to
modern science
Contrary to
modern science
Libertarianism
My worry about libertarianism
Libertarianism assumes
strange, mysterious scientific
ideas not found anywhere else
in the natural world.
Compatibilism
The problem
1.
We have free will
2.
Determinism is true
Beliefs in
tension
No tension beliefs can
coexist
COMPATIBILISM
Compatibilism
COMPATIBILISM
(SOFT DETERMINISM)
Claim 1
Determinism
is true
Claim 2
Free will and
determinism are
compatible
Claim 3
WE HAVE
FREE WILL
Compatibilism
How are free will and determinism
compatible?
Compatibilism
Gandhi is known as the leader of India’s
independence who resorted to fasting to further his
cause.
Now, imagine that Gandhi was so strong in his
convictions that he could not do other than fight
for British independence through fasting. In his
mind, he says, “Here I stand, and I can do no
other!”
Was Gandhi’s act to fast free or unfree?
Compatibilism
Imagine a man on a desert island who fasts because
there is no food available on the island.
Was this man’s act to fast free or unfree?
Compatibilism
Column A
Free Acts
Column B
Unfree Acts
Gandhi fasting because he wanted The man fasting in the desert because
to free India.
there was no food.
Stealing bread because one is
hungry.
Stealing because you were
hypnotized against your will.
Signing a confession because one
wanted to tell the truth.
Signing because the police beat you.
Compatibilism
What distinguishes acts from Column A from
the acts from Column B?
Compatibilism
Column A
Free Acts
Column B
Unfree Acts
Acts caused by the individual’s
own desires, wishes, reasons
Acts caused by forces or conditions
that make individual act against
desires, wishes, reasons
Compatibilism
Compatibilist definition of ‘free act’
•
Compatibilist definition
An act performed from the individual’s own desires,
wishes, reasons
•
Factor irrelevant to defining a ‘free act’
Whether the individual could do otherwise
Compatibilism
Compatibilist definition
An act performed from the
individual’s own desires,
wishes, reasons
Even if determinism is
true, the individual still
has his own desires,
wishes, and reasons from
which he can act.
Compatible with determinism