Determinism, Libertarianism and Compatibilism

UW-Rock County Introduction to Philosophy
The Three Amigos
Determinism, Libertarianism, Compatibilism
Stephen E. Schmid 1
Ponder This....
List three different things that you did simply because they were
what you wanted to do!
Why did you like the activities on your list? Did you choose
to like the things you like to do? !
If yes, what caused you to like the things you like to do?!
If no, how did you come to like the things you like to do?
Stephen E. Schmid 2
Two Notions of Freedom

Circumstantial Freedom: the freedom to perform an action
without interference from obstacles!
You are not free to vote if someone locks you in the trunk of
their car!
Metaphysical Freedom: the power of the self to choose among

genuine alternatives!
Genuine alternatives: acting independently of prior causal

factors!
Indeterminism: the view that some actions are not the result of
prior causal factors (same as metaphysical freedom)!
If we are metaphysically free, then facts about our psychology

are not sufficient to make our actions necessary or inevitable
Stephen E. Schmid 3
Options for Human Freedom
The debate about freedom and determinism can be characterized by

three statements!
1. We are determined.!
2. If we are determined, then we lack the freedom necessary to

be morally responsible.!
3. We do have the freedom necessary to be morally responsible.!
An inconsistent triad: accept any two and the other you must
reject
Stephen E. Schmid 4
We Are Determined
Determinism: the position that all events are the necessary

outcome of previous causes!
Everything that happens is the inevitable outcome of the

causal order of things!
Determinism can admit we have circumstantial freedom but

deny we have metaphysical freedom!
Do not confuse determinism with predeterminism or

predestination!
The latter two presuppose a knower and determinism makes

no such assumption
Stephen E. Schmid 5
If We Are Determined, then We Lack the

Freedom Necessary to be Morally Responsible
Incompatibilism: position that determinism is incompatible with

the sort of freedom required to be morally responsible for our
actions!
For the incompatibilist, the issue of moral responsibility is

whether we deserve reward or punishment for our actions!
Compatibilism: position that determinism is compatible with the

sort of freedom required to be morally responsible for our actions
Stephen E. Schmid 6
We Do Have the Freedom Necessary to be

Morally Responsible
The issue is, What kind of freedom is necessary for one to be

morally responsible?!
One view is that circumstantial freedom is sufficient for one to

be morally responsible (compatibilism)!
Another view is that circumstantial freedom is a minimal

condition, but one must be metaphysically free to be held
morally responsible
Stephen E. Schmid 7
Three Stances Toward Freedom and Moral

Responsibility
Hard Determinism: all of our actions are (causally) determined

and we do not have moral responsibility for our actions!
Libertarianism: we do have metaphysical freedom; determinism

is false; we are morally responsible!
Compatibilism: we are determined and we have moral

responsibility; circumstantial freedom is all we need to be
morally responsible
Stephen E. Schmid 8
Holbach
The Illusion of Free Will
Stephen E. Schmid 9
We Live In a World of Causes
Humans are connected to universal nature!
They are "unceasingly modified by causes, whether visible or

concealed"!
Humans have no control over these causal forces !
These causal forces regulate existence, "give the hue to his way
of thinking" and determine actions
Stephen E. Schmid 10
We Act Necessarily
One's action is the result of the impulse received from !
the motive!
the object, or!
the idea which has modified one's brain or will!
If one does not act on a particular impulse, it is because there is

some new cause, motive or object that affects him in a different
manner!
"In all this he always acts according to necessary laws from

which he has no means to emancipating himself."
Errors of Philosophers
Error of philosophers comes from thinking that a human's free

will is the "original motive of his actions"!
What the philosophers have missed is that there are many

causes which effect the will!
Humans are not the master of their desires
Actions of Humans Are Never Free
Humanity's actions are never free because they are the result of!
one's temperament!
of the received ideas and notions formed about one's own

happiness!
of one's opinions reinforced by example, education, and daily

experiences!
"Man, then, is not a free agent in any one instant of his life; he is
necessarily guided in each step by those advantages, whether real
or fictitious, that he attaches to the objects by which his passions
are roused...."
Does Choice Prove Freedom?
Suppose I say, "You are not free to raise you hand."!
You respond, "Oh yeah, watch this!"!
Would Holbach say you are free?
No, Holbach would argue that the desire to display your

apparent free will becomes a necessary motive which
determines your will
Go Ahead, Jump!
Is there a difference between the man who throws himself out the
window and the man who is thrown out the window?!
The only difference is that the man who is thrown out of the
window is forced to do so by some force external to himself!
The action of the man who throws himself out of the window
is determined by internal forces with remote external causes
Out of Control
Are we in control of the motives of our actions?!
Where do these motives come from?!
What gives birth to these ideas and motives?!
Better yet, are we capable of preventing these ideas from

presenting themselves in our brains?
Look About
Look at your neighbor.!
What do you see?!
Could you at that moment have seen him/her otherwise; that is,
with different hair color, different features, different look of
bewilderment?!
Similarly, could we have had motives other than those upon

which we act?
Absence of Restraint Is Not

Absence of Necessity
If there is no barrier preventing us from acting a certain way, does

that mean we are free to act in that manner?!
Is the prisoner who is no longer in chains free to act any way he

chooses?!
"Man may, therefore, cease to be restrained, without, for that

reason, becoming a free agent: in whatever manner he acts, he
will act necessarily, according to motives by which he shall be
determined."
We Are Not Rocks Moved By Gravity
Saying we are not free does not mean that we are moved by
simple forces in a simple manner!
Our very existence carries with it internal causes!
Our brains motivate us based on unknown biological forces!
Our minds are shaped by our perceptions of the external world!
We are ignorant of the forces that shape and determine our

wills!
We are ultimately ignorant of why we act the way we do
Freedom Is An Illusion
If we understood the multiple, interweaved matrix of causal

factors, we would understand that no action is free!
The illusion that we are free arises from our inability to analyze
and understand these complex causal factors
Questions about Hard Determinism
Hard determinism denies that we are free and says that if we are
determined then we lack the freedom to be morally responsible
Psychological External
Behavior
State Circumstances
Objections to Hard Determinism, I
"I feel that I am free"!
HD would respond that you are simply ignorant of the many

(invisible) causes determining your actions!
"I could always make a different choice than what I did make"!
HD would understand what you are saying to be that if you

had wanted to, you could have chosen otherwise. But, then
the HD would say that admitting that you could have chosen
otherwise if you had wanted to simply means that if your
psychological state had been different, then so would your
choice.
Objections to Hard Determinism, II
"Sometimes I have to deliberate to make a decision"!
HD would say that deliberation results when there are equally

compelling but conflicting causes for acting!
"It's impossible to predict our own or another's behavior"!
HD might agree that in practice it is impossible, in principle it

is possible to predict behavior

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UW-Rock County Introduction to Philosophy

The Three Amigos

Determinism, Libertarianism, Compatibilism

UW-Rock County Introduction to Philosophy

Two Notions of Freedom

Metaphysical Freedom: the power of the self to choose among

Genuine alternatives: acting independently of prior causal

If we are metaphysically free, then facts about our psychology

UW-Rock County Introduction to Philosophy

Options for Human Freedom

The debate about freedom and determinism can be characterized by

2. If we are determined, then we lack the freedom necessary to

3. We do have the freedom necessary to be morally responsible.!

Determinism: the position that all events are the necessary

Everything that happens is the inevitable outcome of the

Determinism can admit we have circumstantial freedom but

Do not confuse determinism with predeterminism or

The latter two presuppose a knower and determinism makes

UW-Rock County Introduction to Philosophy

If We Are Determined, then We Lack the

Incompatibilism: position that determinism is incompatible with

For the incompatibilist, the issue of moral responsibility is

Compatibilism: position that determinism is compatible with the

We Do Have the Freedom Necessary to be

The issue is, What kind of freedom is necessary for one to be

One view is that circumstantial freedom is sufficient for one to

Another view is that circumstantial freedom is a minimal

UW-Rock County Introduction to Philosophy

Three Stances Toward Freedom and Moral

Hard Determinism: all of our actions are (causally) determined

Libertarianism: we do have metaphysical freedom; determinism

Compatibilism: we are determined and we have moral

The Illusion of Free Will

UW-Rock County Introduction to Philosophy

We Live In a World of Causes

Humans are connected to universal nature!

They are "unceasingly modified by causes, whether visible or

Humans have no control over these causal forces !

One's action is the result of the impulse received from !

the object, or!

the idea which has modified one's brain or will!

If one does not act on a particular impulse, it is because there is

"In all this he always acts according to necessary laws from

UW-Rock County Introduction to Philosophy

Error of philosophers comes from thinking that a human's free

What the philosophers have missed is that there are many

Humans are not the master of their desires

Actions of Humans Are Never Free

of the received ideas and notions formed about one's own

of one's opinions reinforced by example, education, and daily

UW-Rock County Introduction to Philosophy

Does Choice Prove Freedom?

Suppose I say, "You are not free to raise you hand."!

You respond, "Oh yeah, watch this!"!

Would Holbach say you are free?

No, Holbach would argue that the desire to display your

UW-Rock County Introduction to Philosophy

Are we in control of the motives of our actions?!

Where do these motives come from?!

What gives birth to these ideas and motives?!

Better yet, are we capable of preventing these ideas from

Look at your neighbor.!

What do you see?!

Similarly, could we have had motives other than those upon