The Indeterministic Weightings Model of Libertarian Free Will

نوع مقاله : مقاله علمی پژوهشی

نویسنده

Professor of Philosophy, Department of Philosophy, Coe College, USA.

چکیده

This article articulates and defends an indeterministic weightings model of libertarian free will (LFW). It begins by defining the conception of free will at issue and then goes on to present versions of the luck objection which is often made against theories of LFW. It is argued that the sort of indeterministic weightings model of LFW which has been defended in the recent literature by Storrs McCall and E.J. Lowe (2005, 2008) and John Lemos (2018, Ch.5) has the resources to answer such luck objections while possessing virtues which some other libertarian views lack. According to the indeterministic weightings model of LFW, in making undetermined free-willed choices between two courses of action, A or B, the reasons for choosing each option don’t come with pre-established evaluative weights. During the process of deliberation, the agent assigns weight in an undetermined way to the reasons for each option and this typically leads to the choice of the option that has been assigned a greater value. In the paper, it is not only argued that this theory can resolve worries about luck but also that the view has virtues which certain other libertarian views lack, as such the view is contrasted with the modest libertarian models of LFW from Daniel Dennett (1978) and Alfred Mele (1995) as well as Robert Kane’s view (1996, 2002, 2007, 2011, 2019).

کلیدواژه‌ها

عنوان مقاله [English]

The Indeterministic Weightings Model of Libertarian Free Will

نویسنده [English]

  • John Lemos
Professor of Philosophy, Department of Philosophy, Coe College, USA.
چکیده [English]

This article articulates and defends an indeterministic weightings model of libertarian free will (LFW). It begins by defining the conception of free will at issue and then goes on to present versions of the luck objection which is often made against theories of LFW. It is argued that the sort of indeterministic weightings model of LFW which has been defended in the recent literature by Storrs McCall and E.J. Lowe (2005, 2008) and John Lemos (2018, Ch.5) has the resources to answer such luck objections while possessing virtues which some other libertarian views lack. According to the indeterministic weightings model of LFW, in making undetermined free-willed choices between two courses of action, A or B, the reasons for choosing each option don’t come with pre-established evaluative weights. During the process of deliberation, the agent assigns weight in an undetermined way to the reasons for each option and this typically leads to the choice of the option that has been assigned a greater value. In the paper, it is not only argued that this theory can resolve worries about luck but also that the view has virtues which certain other libertarian views lack, as such the view is contrasted with the modest libertarian models of LFW from Daniel Dennett (1978) and Alfred Mele (1995) as well as Robert Kane’s view (1996, 2002, 2007, 2011, 2019).

کلیدواژه‌ها [English]

  • Free will
  • Moral responsibility
  • Libertarianism
  • Luck

مراجع

Allen, R. F. (2005). Free Will and Indeterminism: Robert Kane’s Libertarianism. Journal of Philosophical Research, 30, 341-355. doi: 10.5840/jpr20053042
Clarke, R. (2002). Libertarian Views: Critical Survey of Noncausal and Event-causal Accounts of Free Agency. In R. Kane (Ed.) The Oxford Handbook of Free Will, (pp.356-385). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Clarke, R. (2003). Libertarian Accounts of Free Will. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Dennett, D. (1978). On Giving Libertarians What They Say They Want. In: Brainstorms, (pp.286-299). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Ekstrom, L. (2003). Free Will, Chance, and Mystery. Philosophical Studies, 113(2), 153-180. doi: 10.1023/A:1023940209581
Haji, I. (1999). Indeterminism and Frankfurt Style Examples. Philosophical Explorations, 2(1), 42-58. doi: 10.1080/13869799908520964
Haji, I. (2005). Libertarianism, Luck, and Action Explanation. Journal of Philosophical Research, 30, 321-340. doi: 10.5840/jpr20053041
Kane, R. (1996). The Significance of Free Will. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kane, R. (2002). Some Neglected Pathways in the Free Will Labyrinth. In R. Kane (Ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Free Will, (pp.406-437). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kane, R. (2007a). Libertarianism. In J. M. Fischer, R. Kane, D. Pereboom & M.Vargas (Eds.), Four Views on Free Will (pp.5-43). Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Kane, R. (2007b). Response to Fischer, Pereboom, and Vargas. In J. M. Fischer, R. Kane, D. Pereboom & M.Vargas (Eds.), Four Views on Free Will (pp.166-183). Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Kane, R. (2011). Rethinking Free Will: New Perspectives on an Ancient Problem. In R. Kane (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Free Will (pp.381-404). New York: Oxford University Press.
Kane, R. (2014). Acting ‘Of One’s Own Free Will’: Modern Reflections on an Ancient Philosophical Problem, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, 114, 35-55. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9264.2014.00363.x
Kane, R. (2016). On the Role of Indeterminism in Libertarian Free Will. Philosophical Explorations,19 (1), 2-16.
doi: 10.1080/13869795.2016.1085594.
Kane, R. (2019). The Complex Tapestry of Free Will: Striving Will, Indeterminism, and Volitional Streams. Synthese, 196(1), 145-160.
doi: 10.1007/s11229-016-1046-8.
Lemos, J. (2011). Wanting, Willing, Trying, and Kane’s Theory of Free Will. Dialectica, 65(1), 31-48. doi: 10.1111/j.1746-8361.2010.01258.x
Lemos, J. (2018). A Pragmatic Approach to Libertarian Free Will. New York: Routledge.
Levy, N. (2008). Bad Luck Once Again. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 77, 749-754.
Levy, N. (2011). Hard Luck: How Luck Undermines Free Will and Moral Responsibility. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
McCall, S. & Lowe, E. J. (2005). Indeterminist Free Will. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 70, 681-690.
McCall, S. & Lowe, E. J. (2008). The Determinists Have Run Out of Luck for a Good Reason. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 77, 745-748.
Mele, A. (1995). Autonomous Agents: From Self-Control to Autonomy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Mele, A. (1998). Review of The Significance of Free Will. Journal of Philosophy, 95(11), 581-584. doi: 10.5840/jphil1998951122
Mele, A. (2006). Free Will and Luck. New York: Oxford University Press.
Strawson, G. (2000). The Unhelpfulness of Indeterminism. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 60, 149-155.
Van In Wagen, P. (2002). Free Will Remains a Mystery. In R. Kane (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Free Will (pp.158-177). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Waller, B. (1988). Free Will Gone Out of Control. Behaviorism, 16, 149-162.
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