ipl-logo

Liberttarianism, Hard Determinism Compatibilism

689 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Compatlist vs libertarian compare philosophy

Name: Calvin Humphries
Section #: 1302-23405
Date: March 5, 2018

Libertarianism, Hard Determinism, Compatibilism and Their Relationship to Free Will

The three leading theories of free will are Libertarianism, Hard Determinism and Compatibilism. They share some similarities and some definite differences. The first thing we must do before we explore these philosophical tenets is define free will.
Free will is defined by three things: (1) there is nothing that prevents a person from doing a certain thing, (2) there is nothing that keeps a person from doing or forces them to do a certain thing and, (3) the person can do whatever they choose. A person’s actions are free, according to Hobbes, if a person can do what they have a will to do. The “will,” means the last appetite before action; it is the state of mind that leads one to act. The idea is that freedom means there is nothing external blocking you from doing what you will to do. It does not matter whether your decision to do one thing rather than another was caused by factors outside of your control. …show more content…

The reason being that, though most people believe that metaphysical actions are at play in our daily lives, we are still free to make our own decisions. Christianity is based on the idea of free will despite our actions possibly being contrary to what God would want us to do. Our justice system is based on free will in the sense that there is culpability for our actions, so as a society we are charged with the moral responsibility that comes with free will. There is no legal defense of, “the devil made me do it”. We regularly make choices that are based on our own desires or that go against our desires and we also have the choice to act or not act in every situation. Is libertarianism an absolute answer? No, but I believe it is closest to the truth in regard to our ability to exercise free

Show More
Related
1797 Words | 8 Pages

“Determinism is the philosophical idea that every event or state of affairs, including every human decision and action, is the inevitable and necessary consequence of antecedent states of affairs”(Information Philosopher, 2015). It refers to the claim that, at any moment or place in time, there is only one possible future for the whole universe. However, the concept of determinism often comes into question when looking into whether human beings possess free will. Free Will can be defined as “the power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate; the ability to act at one's own discretion” (Defence of Reason, 2014). The very definition of the terms determinism and free will appear to be conflicting however, many philosophical thinkers

Read More
136 Words | 1 Pages

Many political and economic ideologies have different outlooks on the role the government should have in our society. More government regulations and oversight do not necessarily provide better quality services and products. Likewise, people who advocate for political freedoms, individualism, and free markets are libertarians. In essence, libertarianism is a set of ideological beliefs that preserve individual freedoms, promotes less government, and economic liberalization (Boaz, 1999). “The Libertarian Summer Camp” podcast by planet money presented an array of opinions suggesting that there should be less government involvement in our lives and daily decisions.

Read More
1445 Words | 6 Pages

In "Human Freedom and the Self", Roderick Chisholm has taken a libertarian approach on the issue of free will and determinism. Libertarians believe that humans have free will and make a distinction that free will and determinism are incompatible. Chisholm has the same opinion. On the problem of human freedom, Chisholm thinks that “Human beings are responsible agents; but this fact appears to conflict with a deterministic view of human action (the view that every event that is involved in an act is caused by some other event); and it also appears to conflict with an indeterministic view of human action (the view that the act, or some event that is essential to the act, is not caused at all).”(Page 3). He does not agree that determinism or indeterminism

Read More
470 Words | 2 Pages

A philosopher named John Locke believed that people should be free to do what they want, but if their choices are poor, then they should be ready to face the consequences. In his justification, he asserts that “We must consider what state men are naturally in... a state of perfect freedom to order their actions and dispose

Read More
186 Words | 1 Pages

Free will is a true gift given to us from God. God gave us the gift of free will and we can choose to do good or to sin. Since we are all humans, we are not perfect and have a tendency to sin, also known as concupiscence. When we sin, we have to deal with the consequences, but we are given grace to choose good instead of evil. One example in the modern age that relates to this theme is the movie, The Lion King.

Read More
1121 Words | 5 Pages

He believes that there is always a new cause for a new motive that will influence us when making a choice. Therefore, free will is just an illusion individuals like to believe. What also supports Holbach’s claim is that every individual will react differently to stimuli. We all are wired differently, meaning our thinking is different as well. Other people’s motives are already planted in their brain just like mine are already planted in mine.

Read More
265 Words | 2 Pages

Hard determinists and compatibilists may raise objections to this explanation. One of the major objections that they could ask is what is so special about human beings? Libertarians seem to be ok explaining every other event in the world through causal determinism. Yet, they appeal to this distinct sense of agent causation when it comes to humans. In response, libertarians would argue that humans are distinct from most everything in the natural world.

Read More
1532 Words | 7 Pages

Free will is an important components of the human experience and

Read More
501 Words | 3 Pages

By choosing to act a certain way instead of another, you had the freedom to act any way you wanted to and differently. Choices that you make are not predetermined in the future which means that determinism itself has to be wrong. This means that we have the absolute free will over every single choice made in our daily lives. If someone does something wrong, why should they be punished if they were just simply going by their predetermined script? If that were true, they’d have no say over their wrong choices, just like the rain has no say for falling from the sky.

Read More
214 Words | 1 Pages

Libertarians disagree. They think that we must never violate anyones rights-even if doing so would increase overall happiness. According

Read More
1277 Words | 6 Pages

“I believe the freedom to choose my course in life but I do not believe I am free to choose the consequences of my

Read More
1777 Words | 8 Pages

Taylor’s philosophy and view on determinism, free will and moral responsibility reflects the libertarian philosophic position. He attaches large importance to free will and free choice of a person. Taylor asserts that “certain events (namely, human choices) are not completely determined by preceding events; rather, they are caused by the agent of the choice (the person doing the choosing)” (Free Will). This view differs from that of Blatchford, Schlick and Hospers who deny free choice concluding that everything is determined in our decisions and actions.

Read More
1202 Words | 5 Pages

In order for free will free will to be tangible, an individual would have to have control over his or her actions regardless of any external factors. It can be argued that the inevitability of

Read More
1387 Words | 6 Pages

Battles on this topic have been conducted for a long time. And I want to try to express my position on this issue. I do not believe in free will, but I do not believe that it is a myth. Let's start from the beginning. From the definition of freedom.

Read More
823 Words | 4 Pages

According to John Locke, it is not the Will of a human being that makes him or her free. The Will is simply a faculty of freedom, insofar as a person who expresses Free Will is simply acting freely in accordance with his or her desires. For Locke, It is the person who is free; he proclaims that “free will” is a misleading phrase, whereby “freedom” and the human “will” are two separate categories which must be clearly defined in order to be properly accounted for. A Person who is free may do what he or she wills. Freedom, for Locke, consists in a person’s power or ability to act or not act on his or her will.

Read More

More about Liberttarianism, Hard Determinism Compatibilism

Related Topics

Open Document