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Compatibilism: Background And Key Terms Of Frankfurt

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Background & Key Terms:
• Frankfurt provides a compatibilist account for free will.
• Compatibilism: All events are caused, and some events/actions are free.
• Key Terms: o First-Order Desire: a desire to perform an action. o Will: an effective first-order desire. o Second-Order Desire: a desire to have a desire. o Second-Order Violation: to want a certain desire to be one’s will. o Freedom of Action: the freedom to do what you want. o Freedom of Will: the freedom to want what you want. o Wantons: those who have desires but do not have second-order violations.
Frankfurt’s Main Points & His Reasons Why:
• Frankfurt is trying to prove that there is a difference between people and other creatures. o The difference is the structure of a person’s …show more content…

o His theory accounts for our reluctance to believe that this freedom of will is enjoyed by the members of any other inferior species- other creatures do not have second-order desires. o Satisfies the condition that must be met by any theory that freedom of will should be regarded as desirable- enjoying free will means the satisfaction of desires of second or of higher orders. o Provides an analysis of one of the conditions of moral responsibility- he inquires what is meant by the assumption that someone is morally responsible for what he has done- explained below.
• “The question of the freedom of his will does not concern the relation between what he does and what he wants to do” - It concerns desires themselves. o Relationship between moral responsibility and the freedom of the will has been misunderstood. o It is not true that a person is morally responsible for what he has done only if his will was free when he did it. He may be morally responsible for having done it even though his will was not free at all.
 Example: The willing addict
• The willing addict’s will is not free as his desire to take the drug will make him take the drug regardless if this desire portrays his will …show more content…

o On the other hand, it is conceivable that a person is free to have the will he wants by chance, therefore it may be a matter of chance that some people enjoy freedom of will. o Also, conceivable that states of affairs can occur in another way than chance or as the outcome of a sequence of natural causes. Therefore, if events come about in this other way, then it is also possible that a person in that way enjoys freedom of will.

Conclusions/Main Concepts:
• Difference between people and other creatures - only humans have second-order desires.
• Freedom of action and freedom of will = all the freedoms you can want. o Even if you are an addict and choose to take a drug “against your will,” it is not really against your will as another first-order desire is actually your will.
• His theory of freedom of will and determinism are not competing theories.

My View:
• I believe Frankfurt’s theory is convincing and I agree that the difference between people and other creatures is second-order desires. A dog may want to chase his tail, but he does not have a desire or reason to actually want to chase his

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