Section 3.3 Control Yourself Freedom as Self-Determination 1

Libertarianism Libertarianism is the doctrine that free actions are caused by selves (agents, persons). According to libertarianism, it’s not enough that your actions are caused by your desires because if your desires are not your own, you’re not ultimately responsible for the actions they cause. 2

The Case for Freedom: The Argument from Experience It seems that we have free will; that our choices are up to us. We may be mistaken about this, but from the fact that we may be mistaken, it doesn’t follow that we are mistaken. 3

The Argument from Deliberation We’ve all had the experience of choosing among alternative courses of action. We can deliberate about doing something only if we believe that it is in our power to do it or not to do it. Believing something to be true, however, doesn’t make it true. 4

Libet’s Experiment Libet’s subjects were given the following instructions: “Flex you finger to push the button when you feel like it, and tell us where the hand on the clock is when you decide to do that.” The results seemed to indicate that the subjects didn’t become conscious of the intention to move their finger until after the movement had started. Does this show that free will is an illusion? 5

Reid on Free Will To act freely, Reid says, we don’t have to be able to do otherwise, we just have to be able to choose otherwise. “If, in any action, he had the power to will what he did, or not to will it, in that action he is free.” 6

Agent-Causation vs. Event-Causation Agent-causation occurs when an agent causes an event. Event-causation occurs when one event causes another. 7

Volition Enabling Properties Events cause other events in virtue of the properties they possess. For example, a log’s burning brings about a marshmallow’s cooking in virtue of being hot. Similarly, agents can cause events in virtue of the properties they possess, such as self- consciousness. 8

Making Rational Choices Making rational choices involves weighing reasons. But how do we decide which reason carries the most weight? If we appeal to another reason, we generate an infinite regress. If we decide without appealing to another reason, the choice is not rational. 9

Self-subsuming Reasons Some theories apply to themselves. A theory of truth, for example, should itself be true. Similarly, some reasons apply to themselves. So we can explain why the reason was chosen by appealing to the reason itself. 10

Rational Choice Agent-caused actions can be rational because the reasons upon which they’re based can be self-subsuming or self-justifying; they can be justified by appeal to themselves. 11