Free Will and Determinism - 1619 Words

The problem of free will and determinism is a mystery about what human beings are able to do. The best way to describe it is to think of the alternatives taken into consideration when someone is deciding what to do, as being parts of various â€Å"alternative features† (Van-Inwagen). Robert Kane argues for a new version of libertarianism with an indeterminist element. He believes that deeper freedom is not an illusion. Derk Pereboom takes an agnostic approach about causal determinism and sees himself as a hard incompatibilist. I will argue against Kane and for Pereboom, because I believe that Kane struggles to present an argument that is compatible with the latest scientific views of the world. Robert Kane begins by explaining that there are†¦show more content†¦If described from a physical perspective, free will looks like chance. However, the indeterministic chaotic process is also, experientially, the agent’s effort of will – something the agent is do ing. The agent’s choice is something that the agent does and not something that happens to the agent. Therefore, the choice reflects the agent’s effort, even though the outcome is not yet determined. Kane ends his argument by saying that these reflections naturally raise further questions about whether the indeterminism required by an incompatibilist theory of free will is actually there in the brain and that every undetermined, self-forming, free choice is the initiation of what might be called a â€Å"value experiment† whose justification lies in the future and is not fully explained by past reasons. Derk Pereboom’s position is an agnostic approach about causal determinism. He contends that if causal determinism were true, we do not have the sort of free will required for moral responsibility. As a hard compatibilist, he believes that life without this kind of free will need not preclude a sense of meaning based on morality, and, in some respects, it co uld even be support it. When arguing against compatibilism, Pereboom first defines compatibilism as free will of the type required for moral responsibility. He says that it is compatible with determinism and that compatibilists will say that we do in fact have this sort of free will. He then defines a libertarianist as someoneShow MoreRelatedDeterminism Between Free Will And Determinism Essay1383 Words   |  6 PagesDeterminism relates directly to The Fountain in Tommy’s journey as he changes through the guidance of Izzi’s from fearing and fighting death, to acceptance and grace in its inevitability. This journey is central to the film as the lighting -dark to light-, colours -black to white- and shapes –triangles to rectangles to circles- all symbolically represent this movement from fear, denial and blindness to enlightenment, acceptance and grace. It is in the climax of this journey that the conflict betweenRead MoreFree Will And Determinism Vs. 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