Do we have free will?

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PhilosophyAssignment

by Kristin Brumbach

Do we have free will?

Incompabtilism

An example is anyone walking on a street, they believe that they have free will and also believe in determinism, whether religious or spiritual, and thus are morally responsibly incompatible.

Robert Kane:

Robert Kane is an example of a philosopher who supports this incompatibilist theory and believes that everyone is an incompatibilist until a philosopher convinces them otherwise.

What is incompabtilism:

Incompatibilism is argued to be a subunit of determinism, but takes on its own characteristics. It argues that determinism and free will are mutually exclusive and that we act freely if determinism is false, but due to internal arguments within the community, it is undecided if when determinism is not present, what is required for free will.

Libertarianism

An example of this that relates to real life is our emotions, if we feel our emotions cannot be changed or coerced by another person, and yet our emotions are governed by nature and biology, our emotional decisions and our free will cannot be free because we are governed by something.

Immanuel Kant

Immanuel Kant is one of the most prolific and important philosophers of all time, and his stance on the question of free will uses libertarianism to demonstrate his thinking. Kant argues that we cannot be coerced and in the world, we perceive, we are free, but that nature and everything are governed by laws, and with everything being governed by rules nothing can truly be free, including our will.

What is libertarianism:

Libertarianism argues that while people are not necessarily controlled or forced to act in certain ways, they cannot be coerced for the good of society or even for their good.

Determinism

Real life example:

A real world example would be a game show, like “Wheel of Fortune,” where if determinism is true, then you were “predestined” to select the letter r after you spun the wheel, and if it’s not true then you randomly selected the specific letter r. This shows determinism's role in the idea of free will and may give an answer as to whether determinism is reasonable or not.

J. J. C. Smart:

Smart's work and study of free will is important as he took a modern stance on this argument and his work on the philosophy of time is still relevant today. Through Smart's, work he suggests that free will is denied, whether determinism or not. He argues that if determinism is true, then all actions and choices are predetermined, and if it is false then all actions and choices are random, and still not done freely.

What is determinism:

Determinism argues that all events, including human actions, are ultimately decided by factors outside of free will. Many philosophers took stances through the use of determinism and one example is that of J.J.C. Smart.

By: Lauren Billings