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?: Theory of Determinism, The
The theory of determinism contends that human behavior, like every other physical phenomenon in the universe is determined by the laws of cause and effect rather than free will. The scientific advances of the 17th century and the work of Sir Isaac N...
Do We Have Free Will?: Moral Responsibility and Free Will
In an attempt to reconcile science and free will, Immanuel Kant distinguishes between the phenomenal world of nature and the noumenal world of ideas in which morality and responsibility reside. It is in the noumenal world that we exert free will. Mo...
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...
Free Will
Philosopher John Searle argues that even if all our behavior is determined and we don't have determinism, there's no way to actually live according to that conviction. Quoting Immanuel Kant, Professor Searle states that, "...You can't think away you...
Elbow Room
Philosopher Daniel Dennett talks about his book, Elbow Room. He notes that elbow room, the idea of freedom as maneuverability, is a metaphor for free will. The real threats to this form of free will, according to Professor Dennett, are not metaphysi...