Why There Are No Good Arguments for or against Determinism (or Any Other Thesis That Would Establish or Refute Libertarianism), digital original edition

Why There Are No Good Arguments for or against Determinism (or Any Other Thesis That Would Establish or Refute Libertarianism), digital original edition PDF Author: Mark Balaguer
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262319780
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 50

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Book Description
Mark Balaguer argues that the question of libertarian free will reduces to a question about indeterminacy—in particular, to a straightforward empirical question about whether certain neural events in our heads are causally undetermined in a certain specific way. In this BIT, refuting arguments both for and against determinism, Balaguer shows that the question of whether human beings possess libertarian free will is a wide-open empirical question.

Why There Are No Good Arguments for or against Determinism (or Any Other Thesis That Would Establish or Refute Libertarianism), digital original edition

Why There Are No Good Arguments for or against Determinism (or Any Other Thesis That Would Establish or Refute Libertarianism), digital original edition PDF Author: Mark Balaguer
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262319780
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 50

Get Book Here

Book Description
Mark Balaguer argues that the question of libertarian free will reduces to a question about indeterminacy—in particular, to a straightforward empirical question about whether certain neural events in our heads are causally undetermined in a certain specific way. In this BIT, refuting arguments both for and against determinism, Balaguer shows that the question of whether human beings possess libertarian free will is a wide-open empirical question.

Causes, Laws, and Free Will

Causes, Laws, and Free Will PDF Author: Kadri Vihvelin
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199795185
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 295

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Book Description
This book rescues compatibilists from the familiar charge of 'quagmire of evasion' by arguing that the problem of free will and determinism is a metaphysical problem with a metaphysical solution. There is no good reason to think that determinism would rob us of the free will we think we have.

Living without Free Will

Living without Free Will PDF Author: Derk Pereboom
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139428705
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
Most people assume that, even though some degenerative or criminal behavior may be caused by influences beyond our control, ordinary human actions are not similarly generated, but rather are freely chosen, and we can be praiseworthy or blameworthy for them. A less popular and more radical claim is that factors beyond our control produce all of the actions we perform. It is this hard determinist stance that Derk Pereboom articulates in Living Without Free Will. Pereboom argues that our best scientific theories have the consequence that factors beyond our control produce all of the actions we perform, and that because of this, we are not morally responsible for any of them. He seeks to defend the view that morality, meaning and value remain intact even if we are not morally responsible, and furthermore, that adopting this perspective would provide significant benefit for our lives.

Free Will

Free Will PDF Author: John Thorp
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351785672
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
The problem of freedom and determinism is one of the most enduring, and one of the best, problems in philosophy. One of the best because it so tenaciously resists solution while yet always seeming urgent, and one of the most enduring because it has always been able to present itself in different ways to suit the preoccupations of different ages. This book, first published in 1980, sets out to defend free will: it elaborates a sober and systematic case for libertarianism in the face of the overwhelming threat that is posed by the scientific study of the brain.

Four Views on Free Will

Four Views on Free Will PDF Author: John Martin Fischer
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1405182040
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
Focusing on the concepts and interactions of free will, moralresponsibility, and determinism, this text represents the mostup-to-date account of the four major positions in the free willdebate. Four serious and well-known philosophers explore the opposingviewpoints of libertarianism, compatibilism, hard incompatibilism,and revisionism The first half of the book contains each philosopher’sexplanation of his particular view; the second half allows them todirectly respond to each other’s arguments, in a lively andengaging conversation Offers the reader a one of a kind, interactive discussion Forms part of the acclaimed Great Debates in Philosophyseries

Determinism and Its Discontents

Determinism and Its Discontents PDF Author: Suresh Kanekar
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781627343633
Category : Free will and determinism
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
"This monograph deals with the controversy about determinism versus freedom of will. The book is addressed to scholars, especially in the areas of philosophy and psychology, and also to thinking and serious-minded laypersons who are interested in the implications of being human. The book attempts to help the reader understand and resolve the dilemma of determinism. The solution offered by this book has not been previously offered by any other book, even though the literature on this topic is vast. The deterministic position is that all events are effects of previous events and causes of future events, in inexorable cause-effect sequences, which leave no room for intervention of anything outside of the stream of causal relationships, such as free will, thus rendering moral responsibility meaningless. Libertarians believe in freedom of will which is, for them, indispensable for moral responsibility. This controversy can be resolved only by making a clear distinction between two kinds of freedom. In common parlance, freedom means freedom from constraint or compulsion, which can be designated as contra-constraintual freedom. The second meaning of freedom is freedom from causation, which has been referred to as contra-causal freedom, and this is the meaning that is inherent in the concept of freedom of will. If we have contra-causal freedom, we can choose or decide to act irrespective of antecedent conditions including our own past. The distinction between contra-causal freedom and contra-constraintual freedom is the key to the resolution of the controversy between determinism and libertarianism. The absence of contra-causal freedom prevails at the theoretical, conceptual, objective, abstract, or as-is level, whereas contra-constraintual freedom functions at the practical, behavioral, subjective, concrete, or as-if level. All we need for moral responsibility is contra-constraintual freedom, and not contra-causal freedom. At the as-is level, there is neither freedom nor dignity, neither morality nor accountability, and neither purpose nor meaning for human existence. It is only at the as-if level that these terms make any sense at all. In theory there is no choice from alternative courses of action in light of the absence of contra-causal freedom; in practice there is, in direct proportion to contra-constraintual freedom"--

Free Will as an Open Scientific Problem

Free Will as an Open Scientific Problem PDF Author: Mark Balaguer
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262266156
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 213

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Book Description
An argument that the problem of free will boils down to an open scientific question about the causal histories of certain kinds of neural events. In this largely antimetaphysical treatment of free will and determinism, Mark Balaguer argues that the philosophical problem of free will boils down to an open scientific question about the causal histories of certain kinds of neural events. In the course of his argument, Balaguer provides a naturalistic defense of the libertarian view of free will. The metaphysical component of the problem of free will, Balaguer argues, essentially boils down to the question of whether humans possess libertarian free will. Furthermore, he argues that, contrary to the traditional wisdom, the libertarian question reduces to a question about indeterminacy—in particular, to a straightforward empirical question about whether certain neural events in our heads are causally undetermined in a certain specific way; in other words, Balaguer argues that the right kind of indeterminacy would bring with it all of the other requirements for libertarian free will. Finally, he argues that because there is no good evidence as to whether or not the relevant neural events are undetermined in the way that's required, the question of whether human beings possess libertarian free will is a wide-open empirical question.

Determinism

Determinism PDF Author: Bernard Berofsky
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400867290
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 343

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Book Description
Bernard Berofsky formulates a concept of determinism in terms that will be constructive for the continuing libertarian-determinist debate. His discussion will interest those who want a deeper understanding of this metaphysical doctrine, and anyone whose fundamental concern is with the nature of human responsibility and the possible threats to it posed by determinism. Originally published in 1971. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Freewill and Determinism

Freewill and Determinism PDF Author: R.L. Franklin
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1351786830
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 359

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Book Description
XI Determinism and Phenomenology -- 1. The Demand for a Sufficient Reason -- 2. Overt and Covert Forces -- 3. Casuistry and Verdicts -- 4. The Partial Efficacy of Reason -- XII Theoretical and Practical Explanation -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Theoretical Explanation -- 3. Practical Explanation: Logical Completeness -- 4. Practical Explanation: Universalisability -- 5. Practical Explanation and Justification -- 6. Practical, Theoretical and Personal Explanation -- 7. Applications to the Problem -- XIII Determinism, Science and Morality -- 1. Determinism and Expirical Discovery -- 2. Libertarian Objections -- 3. The Issue Emerging -- 4. Determinism and Scientific Progress -- 5. Determinist Moralities -- XIV Conclusion -- 1. Where thought must Stop -- 2. Metaphysical Explanation -- 3. Libertarianism, Determinism and Ultimacy -- 4. The Natural and the Common View -- 5. Assessment of the Issues -- 6. Dialogue in Philosophy -- Appendices -- Appendix I Moral Libertarianism -- Appendix II 'Could have done Otherwise' -- Index

The Non-Reality of Free Will

The Non-Reality of Free Will PDF Author: Richard Double
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195362330
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
The traditional disputants in the free will discussion--the libertarian, soft determinist, and hard determinist--agree that free will is a coherent concept, while disagreeing on how the concept might be satisfied and whether it can, in fact, be satisfied. In this innovative analysis, Richard Double offers a bold new argument, rejecting all of the traditional theories and proposing that the concept of free will cannot be satisfied, no matter what the nature of reality. Arguing that there is unavoidable conflict within our understanding of moral responsibility and free choice, Double seeks to prove that when we ascribe responsibility, blame, or freedom, we merely express attitudes, rather than state anything capable of truth or falsity. Free will, he concludes, is essentially an incoherent notion.