© Cambridge University Press 2011 Chapter 9 Appendix

© Cambridge University Press 2011 The free-will problem Believers in free-will think that much behaviour is determined by factors beyond our control. However, this still allows some genuinely free decisions. How can we reconcile the belief that human beings have free-will with our scientific picture of the world?

© Cambridge University Press 2011 Determinism Some people have nevertheless denied that human beings have free-will. According to determinism, every event in the universe has a cause. All our actions can be traced back to factors beyond our control, so free-will is an illusion. You do have choices, but the available choices are predetermined by past choices. Beware: determinism is not the same as fatalism (the future is determined no matter what you do – i.e. destiny).

© Cambridge University Press 2011 Does every event have a cause? In the physical world we believe it does. This is not always an empirical belief. It is sometimes a metaphysical belief in the nature of ultimate reality: the universe is orderly and needs forces to change it.

© Cambridge University Press 2011 Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle It is impossible to know both the position and momentum of subatomic particles with complete certainty. Some philosophers have interpreted this to mean that events are governed by chance. They then say that this is a physical basis for free-will. Criticism: –Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle only applies at the subatomic level: anything bigger and it does not apply. –Physicists are currently working on linking the quantum (quantum mechanics) and the real (classical mechanics) worlds, but they have not managed it yet.

© Cambridge University Press 2011 Capturing a free action We feel free to choose so it can be argued that we are free to choose. However, it is very difficult to capture and describe a freely chosen action.

© Cambridge University Press 2011 Is the feeling of freedom an illusion? Some people think yes: choices are determined by prior events. Some people think no: we are completely free to choose.

© Cambridge University Press 2011 Is free-will compatible with determinism? Some argue that free-will and determinism are compatible (compatibilism). Compatibilists believe that every event has a cause, but that this still leaves room for free-will. To be free is simply to do what you want.

© Cambridge University Press 2011 Criticisms of determinism The more someone is addicted to something the less they will be able to exercise free-will in the future (e.g. chemical addiction), so past decisions would affect (determine?) current choices. Some choices are determined by ‘the sort of person we are’ and so cannot be called free. Although you can do what you want, your wants and desires may be governed by factors beyond your control.

© Cambridge University Press 2011 Is free-will an illusion? (1) Determinism would seem to imply that people cannot help being good or bad – it is determined by their prior experiences. They are therefore not responsible for their actions. A determinist would justify punishment for crimes by saying that it is society’s way of: –protecting society* –reforming criminals (reform theory)* –giving punishment because it is deserved (retribution theory). (* compatible with determinism)

© Cambridge University Press 2011 Is free-will an illusion? (2) Does determinism undermine rationality? –Determinism does not really allow for weighing up evidence and making judgements. –Determinism would mean that your judgement is determined by past experience/events. Big problem: –If determinism is true, it would mean that we have no free choice in what we say, in the choice of words used: there would be no difference between speech and a dog barking.