Compatibilist Theories
Determinism
Incompatibilism 1
Incompatibilism 2
Meaning of Life
100

What is Desire Theory

freedom is the power to do what you want to do

100

What is determinism

the state of the world at any given time and the laws of nature guarantee a single future state of the world

100

What is the ability to do otherwise condition

A person X's action A is free only if X was able to not do A

100

What is the paradox of free will?

F1) I have free will

F2) If determinism is true, I dont have free will

F3) If determinism is false, I dont have free will

100

What is the myth of Sisyphus

Sisyphus lives an eternal life, the only object of his life is to push a boulder to the top of the mountain. The boulder is always sent back down the mountain before making it to the top, forcing Sisyphus to push it again, and so on

200

What are second-order desires

Desires about first-order desires

1) a desire to have a first-order desire

2) a desire for some first-order desire to be your will

200

What does "state of the world at time t" mean

a complete list of 

(i) every object that exists at t

(ii) the properties of those objects at t

200

What is an untouchable fact? Give examples

a fact that no human being in history has ever had the power to change 

ex.) iron is magnetic, 2+2=4

200

Summarize the randomness argument in your own words.

What is the conclusion?

If determinism is false, then my decisions/actions are a matter of random chance

I don't control what occurs as a matter of random chance

Therefore, if determinism is false, I have no control over my decisions/actions

If determinism is false, there is no free will

200

What does optimism (in the meaning of life) mean

Our lives are—or at least could be—meaningful

300

What is the Sane Deep Self View

a person is free when (i) their deep self is in control of their will and (ii) they are sane

300

consider the following flawed speech:

"I could not possibly know that i would decide to go to UCF when I was a child and didn't even know what UCF was. So, it was not predetermined that i would go to UCF"

What is wrong with this assertion?

determinsim is not a thesis about what you know!

Analogy: before the coin flip, it was true that it was going it land on heads, even though none of us could've possibly known it would land on heads

300

What propositon do all incompatibilists agree with?

What proposition do some incompatibilists disagree on?

All agree that if determinism is true, we don't have free will

Disagree about whether free will exists

300

Explain the Bad Consequences Argument in your own words

BC1) Belief in hard incompatibilism has bad consequences (e.g., criminal punishment is unjustifiable if we remove moral responsibility)

BC2) we should not hold beliefs that result in bad consequences

BC3) Therefore, we should not believe in hard incompatibilism

300

What is the argument for pessimism

P1) Any life filled with activities that are repetitive and ultimately insignificant is meaningless (paramount case: Sisyphus)

P2) Our lives are filled with activities that are repetitive and ultimately insignificant

P3) Therefore, our lives are meaningless

400
What is Wolf's counterexample to "deep self views" and how does it result in her adding the "sanity" condition
Jojo- raised by a dictator, indoctrinated. Deep self identifies with the desire to murder, which aligns with his actions to murder. 

However, Wolf doesn't think Jojo is free!

Why? Prob bc anyone in his position would do the same, it's out of his control but reality is NOT controling the "deep self"

400
How is determinism different from fatalism

Determinism: same input, same output

Things could have been otherwise if there was a different input, there would be a different output!

fatalism- there is only one possible first state of the world

400

What is libertarian incompatibilism?

What is Hard incompatibilism?

Libertarian incompatibilism = incompatibilism is true + we have free will

Hard incompatibilism = incompatibilism is true + we have no free will

400

Explain the "rollback intuition" as a defense of Randomness Arg. premise R1) If determinism is false, whether or not i lie is a matter of random chance

Alice faces decision to lie or tell the truth, her action is indeterminate until she makes it. She tells the truth. 

If a god-like figure rewinded to a the second before she made that decsion, she may or may not do something different. 

She could lie sometimes, tell truth other times. It's no different from flipping a coin!

400

What is Richard Taylor's objection to the first premise of the pessimism argument ("P1. Any life filled with activities that are repetitive and ultimately insignificant is meaningless")

Sisyphus on drugs- same details as previous Sisyphus, except this time he's on a drug that gives him the compulsion to roll stones. He now loves his eternal life and it is essentially heaven!

Now, his life is meaningful because he experiences fulfillment in his work!

500

Describe how these theories (Desire, Higher-Order Desire, Sane Deep Self) are compatible with determinism

Desire theory- Your desires cause your actions

Yes, your desires were already determined by the past and laws of nature, but that's fine!

Your desires and actions are just small parts in a long causal chain

500

Who are the theorists who believe determinism is incompatible with free will

Van Inwagen- the consequence argument

Pereboom (hard incompatibilist)

500

What is the Consequence Argument? 

Summarize the premises and explain the conclusion. What position does the argument seek to prove?

Assume determinism is true

No human could've changed the state of the world in 65 mil BCE

No human could change the fact that the state of the world in 65 mil BCE would inevitably cause me to be in class today (if determinism is true)

Therefore, if determinism is true, no human could change the fact that I'm in class (not even me)

...thus... i couldn't have done otherwise than be in class, so I'm not in class freely 

= incompatibilism!


500
How does Pereboom defend hard incompatibilism against the Bad Consequences Arg.?
We can justify punishment without employing the notion of moral responsibility by using the "contagion theory" of punishment (as opposed to a retibutivist theory)


analogy: it is justifyable to quarntine a contagious child to prevent them from killing others, even though they are not responsible for their sickness

Likewise, it is justifiable to inprison criminals to prevent them from harming society even though they are not morally responsible for their crimes

500

How does Wolf (objectivist about meaning in life) disagree with Taylor (subjectivist about meaning in life)

Wolf believes there is more to life being meaningful than just the experience of meaning

You could have "The Blob," who is fulfilled but passive,

"The CEO," who is active but whose goal lacks positive value, 

or "The Failed Entrepreneur," whose goal has positive value, but isn't successful

For a meaningful life, you want to be actively and (somewhat) successfully  engaged in something with positive value

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