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How might belief in free will or determinism affect one’s behaviour?, Some…
How might belief in free will or determinism affect one’s behaviour?
Free will
Definition: We have control over our choices and actions and thus moral responsibility
We deserve punishment for a wrong choice and praise for a good one
Is free will required for moral responsibility? Is moral responsibility compatible with causal determination (will of god or by nature)?
Compatibilist like Hume or Leibniz believe both! Free will is required for moral responsibility but it is compatible with causal determinsim
Problems with free will also arise if the world is not inherently deterministic
If our actions are random/chance thus not deterministic, we are still not responsible morally
John Fischer: As long as we have rational we have enough free will to our disposal to deserve blame and praise
Susan wolf: Assymetrical Freedom
Free will is not required for praise but is required for balme
WHY? Because these two are often used as contrasts.
Praises antonym would be critizise, while blames would be credit. Both later ones involve a higher level responsibility, while the first two not necessarily
Incompatibilists believe if we are causally determined to do something we cannot be blamed for it
We cannot blame but we can critizise which might cause other people to not do it again
Some Incompatibilist think that free will is not true
Like Spinoza and today Pereboom
Determinism
Definition:
Causal determinism: all of our actions are causally determined by the nature of the world before we even make a decision
Just because we don not deserve punishment or praise for our action, maybe we need to rethink our practices surrounding moral responsibility
When we punish children do we punish because we believe they deserve to be punished or because we want to morally educate them (the latter can exist with determinism)
We lose the responsibility but we can gain accountability & duty to educate and move forward
This is important due to partical implications such as cirme, law and punishment
and how we treat others
In the example of violent criminals, their punishment is because they deserve it but to protect society from their violence
This has also important aspect in criminal rehabilitation. Does causal determination mean it will not happen?
If more people realise free will doesn't exist then those causal events will lead to treating prisoners better. We're not doomed to do the same things forever, just because there's no free will.
Free will debate is interesting due to results in neuroscience, it seems most of our behavioural is caused by unconscious factors
If this is true is it reasonable to believe in free will in the traditional sense?
Some Incompatibilist think causal determination is false and we have free will
Like Berkely or Kant
Free will has been proven wrong by science (cite paper)