Do We Have Free Will?: Compatibilist View. The
Seventeenth century philosopher Thomas Hobbes believes that the kind of freedom that is necessary for moral responsibility is consistent with determinism. As he says with characteristic terseness, "Liberty and necessity are consistent." Contemporary...
Do We Have Free Will?: If Determinism were True...
If determinism is true then would our ideas about moral responsibility and punishment have to change as well? Some philosophers contend that we have to think of ourselves as behaving freely even in a world in which there is just one path open to us....
Do We Have Free Will?: Question of Free Will, The
In Chicago in the 1920s, two 18-year old college students charged with killing a school boy are on trial for murder. Their defense attorney, Clarence Darrow, argue that they were doomed long before they committed their terrible crime. His passionate...
Do We Have Free Will?: Existential View. The
Not swayed by science or psychological motivation, Jean-Paul Satre proposes that people actively determine their nature through their choices and actions. They make implicit free choices that are compatible with their environment, their family or th...
Do We Have Free Will?: Determinism in Relation to Freedom and Desires
Daniel Dennett does not believe there needs to be a conflict between Newtonian causation and reason. There is no reason that this intentional system cannot be moved by reason, beliefs, and desires. .
Do We Have Free Will?: Libertarian Perspective on Free Will
Libertarianism asserts we are free to act in other ways than we do. At any given moment it is possible to decide among alternative paths, but choosing one may mean that other options are no longer available. Ancient philosophers believed that we mak...