Lecture 3 - Freewill and Responsibility

Question 1

What is Principle of Alternative Possibilities (PAP)?

Answer 1

A person made a free choice only if they had other real options and could have chosen something else instead

Question 2

What is determinism?

Answer 2

It means that our actions are determined, but there are lots of different determiners
* Psychological determinism - our subpersonal brain states are what cause our actions, rather than our conscious decision-making
* biological/genetic determinism -
* causal determinism - everything that happens in the future is completely caused by: 1. what has already happened (the past), 2. the laws of nature (e.g., gravity, physics, etc.)

Question 3

What is rule Alpha?

Answer 3

if □A then ¬U(A)
If A is necessary (had to be true), then it’s not up to you that A

Question 4

What is the consequence argument?

Answer 4

if ¬U(A) and ¬U(A->B), then ¬U(B)
If A is not up to you, and it’s not up to you that A entails B, then B is not up to you either

Question 5

What are Compatibilism and Incompatibilism?

Answer 5

Compatibilism: Freewill and moral responsibility can co-exist with determinism

Incompatibilism: Free will and moral responsibility cannot co-exist with determinism
- The consequence argument is an argument for incompatibilism

Question 6

Info about Incompatibilism

Answer 6

• Hard determinism: determinism is true and that’s why we don’t have free will
• libertarianism: determinism is not true and that’s (partly) why we have free will

Question 7

What is the luck argument?

Answer 7

P1: if determinism is false, then your actions are the result of chance
P2: if your actions are the result of chance, then you aren’t free
therefore,
C: if determinism is false, then you aren’t free