- Compatibilism:
○ Free-will goes along with determinism because of moral responsibility. (accountability)
○ Or...our actions are determined, but we can still be held responsible for our voluntary actions
- Based on how free-will is understood
○ Free-will in this case is the way one acts on their own
§ freedom of the will to act, or not act, without coercion
- Our heredity/past determines how we act.
○ Otherwise our actions would be totally random and there for not free.
- But because of morality we take situations that have been brought forth to us due to determinism, and we evaluate those ideas and make a decision on our own with out any external influences.
OBJECTIONS:
Determinism and free will are incompatible.
- Determinism is the idea …show more content…
If a person acts of her own free will, then she could have done otherwise.
2. If determinism is true, no one can do otherwise than one actually does
3. Therefore, if determinism is true, no one acts of her own free will
- Then if we are determined, we cannot be morally responsible.
RESPONSE:
- If we give moral responsibility to ideas we then have to accept that although the past/genetics has caused us to do what we do, as an individual we decided between option A and option B.
- Yes, if determinism is true we do not have the choice to do whatever we please but unlike hard determinism, we have some choices we make and that is why we could be held morally responsible for decisions that we make.
- IN AN EXAMPLE
○ Choosing to go to college I ended up in a philosophy class…
○ For this class I have to right this paper
○ So I can argue (it might be weak at this point) that I was determined to write this paper or at least have it assigned to me.
○ But at the same time it is my choice whether I want to succeed in writing a good paper and not.
○ Further argument might be that I'm going to write a bad paper because I haven't learned how to read a good paper therefore it is not determined.
○ But, I have the recourses to write a good
○ Free-will goes along with determinism because of moral responsibility. (accountability)
○ Or...our actions are determined, but we can still be held responsible for our voluntary actions
- Based on how free-will is understood
○ Free-will in this case is the way one acts on their own
§ freedom of the will to act, or not act, without coercion
- Our heredity/past determines how we act.
○ Otherwise our actions would be totally random and there for not free.
- But because of morality we take situations that have been brought forth to us due to determinism, and we evaluate those ideas and make a decision on our own with out any external influences.
OBJECTIONS:
Determinism and free will are incompatible.
- Determinism is the idea …show more content…
If a person acts of her own free will, then she could have done otherwise.
2. If determinism is true, no one can do otherwise than one actually does
3. Therefore, if determinism is true, no one acts of her own free will
- Then if we are determined, we cannot be morally responsible.
RESPONSE:
- If we give moral responsibility to ideas we then have to accept that although the past/genetics has caused us to do what we do, as an individual we decided between option A and option B.
- Yes, if determinism is true we do not have the choice to do whatever we please but unlike hard determinism, we have some choices we make and that is why we could be held morally responsible for decisions that we make.
- IN AN EXAMPLE
○ Choosing to go to college I ended up in a philosophy class…
○ For this class I have to right this paper
○ So I can argue (it might be weak at this point) that I was determined to write this paper or at least have it assigned to me.
○ But at the same time it is my choice whether I want to succeed in writing a good paper and not.
○ Further argument might be that I'm going to write a bad paper because I haven't learned how to read a good paper therefore it is not determined.
○ But, I have the recourses to write a good