Chapter 9 - Free Will

Annotated Bibliography

A.J. Ayer. 1954. Freedom and Necessity.

http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/

Defends a simple compatibilist theory based on the notion of constraint

Peter van Inwagen. 1975. The Incompatibility of Free Will and Determinism.

http://link.springer.com/article/

An argument for incompatibilism

Roderick Chisholm. 1964. Human Freedom and the Self.

http://www.tc.umn.edu/

Defends an agent causal theory of free will

Robert Kane. 1989. Two Kinds of Incompatibilism.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/2107958

Defends incompatibilism against the charge that what it requires for free action is impossible

Helen Beebee and Al Mele. 2002. Humean Compatibilism.

http://mind.oxfordjournals.org/content/

Responds to van Inwagen's Consequence Argument defending a version of compatibilism based on Humeanism about the laws of nature

Harry Frankfurt. 1969. Alternate Possibilities and Moral Responsibility.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/2023833

Defends the view that one can be morally responsible for an action even though one couldn't have done otherwise

Linda Zagzebski. 2000. Does Libertarian Freedom Require Alternate Possibilities?

http://www.jstor.org/stable/2676130

An argument that libertarian freedom does not require alternate possibilities

Jean-Paul Sartre. 1946. Existentialism is a Humanism.

https://www.marxists.org/reference

Explains existentialism, including its theory of free choice, and defends it from objections

Derk Pereboom. 2005. Defending Hard Incompatibilism.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/

Defends the view that free will is incompatible with determinism and indeterminism

Peter van Inwagen. 2000. Free Will Remains a Mystery.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/2676119

Argues that we cannot understand how our actions may be free

Annotated Weblinks

http://www.wi-phi.com/video/

An introductory video by Richard Holton at Wi-Phi about free will, addressing both determinism and foreknowledge.

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on foreknowledge and free will by Linda Zagzebski.

http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/

An interview with Alfred Mele at 3:AM Magazine about free will, its relation to science and religion, and other topics.

http://philosophycommons.typepad.com/

Flickers of Freedom, a blog about free will and its relation to morality and action. The blog is coordinated by Thomas Nadelhoffer and includes contributions by a wide range of philosophers.

http://www.philostv.com/

Randolph Clarke and Stephen Kearns discuss free will, determinism, and indeterminism at Philosophy TV.

http://www.philostv.com/

Joshua Knobe and Eddy Nahmias discuss free will, experimental philosophy, and other topics at Philosophy TV.

http://www.philostv.com/

Gregg Caruso and Bruce Waller discuss free will and moral responsibility at Philosophy TV.

Discussion Questions

1. Explain in your own words why some philosophers think that determinism can threaten free will.
2. Why might a compatibilist claim that freedom requires determinism?
3. Explain the main difficulty for libertarianism discussed in the text. Use an example of a free action to illustrate this.
4. In addition to Sartre's, what would be an example of a self-forming action that you or someone you know performed?
5. What do you think is the most implausible consequence of denying that free will exists?
6. Carefully explain one way of making free will compatible with determinism.
7. Defend your own view about whether compatibilism or incompatibilism is correct.
8. Defend your own view about whether soft determinism or hard determinism is more plausible.
9. Create your own Frankfurt case.
10. How do you think someone like Pereboom might justify putting someone into prison for murder even while allowing that the murder was not free and thus the person was not morally responsible for his or her action?