Joseph Campbell's Profile

The Consequence Argument?

What is the consequence argument? When you hear the name, what argument comes to mind? What is the conclusion, and what are the key premises? Continue reading

Posted Nov 27, 2014 at Flickers of Freedom

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Revisionism vs. Classical Compatiblism, part II

In conversation, Bert Baumgaertner (UI) and Michael Goldsby (WSU) have suggested another way of contrasting my view with Vargas’ view. First, there is revisionism 1.0: Who cares what the folk think? What matters is what philosophers think, for “free will” is a term of art. Next there is revisionism 1.1:... Continue reading

Posted Dec 30, 2013 at Flickers of Freedom

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I'm Back: Revisionism vs. Classical Compatibilism, part I

I've been hit by grading and other end-of-the-semester distractions, so I'm a bit behind from where I wanted to be. Luckily, grades are due tomorrow, so I should catch up. Recently, I've become interested in trying to better understand revisionism, and whether and how it differs from classical compatibilism. Nelkin... Continue reading

Posted Dec 16, 2013 at Flickers of Freedom

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The Main Argument, continued

Here is the main argument. Arguments for free will skepticism are no better or worse than arguments for epistemological skepticism. If any argument for epistemological skepticism is cogent, then among the things we don’t know is that we don’t know that we don’t have free will. Therefore, there are no... Continue reading

Posted Dec 6, 2013 at Flickers of Freedom

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Joe's Taxonomy: Why Can't We All Get Along

I'm going to take a break from the main argument, since I've decided to talk about it more in the 3rd week anyway. So I'm going to talk about something now that I was going to talk about in the 3rd week: Joe's taxonomy. I'll have one final post on... Continue reading

Posted Dec 5, 2013 at Flickers of Freedom

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Varieties of Skepticism: Free Will & Knowledge

Here is the main argument (aka the argument I’ll give on Friday). 1. Arguments for free will skepticism are no better or worse than arguments for epistemological skepticism. 2. If any argument for epistemological skepticism is cogent, then among the things we don’t know is that we don’t know that... Continue reading

Posted Dec 4, 2013 at Flickers of Freedom

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Libet and No-Choice Closure

There are new arguments for free will skepticism based on recent findings in neuroscience. For instance, most of you know about a compelling set of data from experiments performed by Benjamin Libet and others (see Bayne and Haggard in Swinburne 2011, as well as the Introduction). In a Libet experiment,... Continue reading

Posted Dec 2, 2013 at Flickers of Freedom

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Incompatibilism and Free Will Skepticism

Thanks Thomas for giving me this opportunity! I look forward to discussing free will and moral responsibility with all of you over the next few weeks! In this first week, I’ll note several reasons why compatibility problems – the problem of free will and determinism as well as the problem... Continue reading

Posted Dec 1, 2013 at Flickers of Freedom

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Free Will at the 2013 Pacific APA

If you haven't made your travel plans yet, try to get to the Pacific APA early this year because there is a terrific session on free will with papers by me, Chris Franklin, and Alex Grzankowski and commentaries by Michael Robinson, Rebekah Rice, and Mark Balaguer. BUT it starts 9am... Continue reading

Posted Feb 25, 2013 at Flickers of Freedom

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Science, Libertarianism, and "Able"

There is a sense of "able" that applies to scientific experimentors: one must be able to duplicate an experiment in other situations; experiments must be reproducible. This sense of "able" would not pass libertarian muster, for holding fixed the propositions about the past and the laws of nature is not... Continue reading

Posted Jan 30, 2013 at Flickers of Freedom

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Origination and Moral Responsibility

Suppose there are two people: A & B. They are mean to each other. A treats B with a lack of respect which causes B to yell at A which causes A to treat B with a lack of respect, etc. It isn't clear when this began, whether it began... Continue reading

Posted Aug 5, 2012 at Flickers of Freedom

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Sam Harris, Free Will

I've been listening to Sam Harris' FREE WILL on my iPod. One line of argument is a standard constructive dilemma similar to Strawson's basic argument. If determinism is true, we don't have free will; indeterminism can't help, for that is just randomness. Therefore, we don't have free will. But there... Continue reading

Posted Aug 3, 2012 at Flickers of Freedom

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Bioethics position

We need someone who can teach bioethics, ethics, and intro to philosophy for a year. If you're interested, contact me ([email protected]). Continue reading

Posted Jun 7, 2012 at Flickers of Freedom

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APA Commentary

If anyone is interested in commenting on a paper on blame at the 2012 Pacific APA, contact me offlist. Can't be on the main program already! Continue reading

Posted Jan 29, 2012 at Flickers of Freedom

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Question

Does anyone know why Widerker (2002, 316) calls the following assumption "IVD"? "If determinism is true, then no agent could have avoided acting as he did ..." Continue reading

Posted Jan 11, 2012 at Flickers of Freedom

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2012 Conferences

The 2012 INPC is on Pragmatism, Law, & Language and will be held March 23-25 in Moscow ID. Any free will conferences that anyone knows about in Spring 2012, especially on the east coast? I still have some extra travel money! Continue reading

Posted Dec 27, 2011 at Flickers of Freedom

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Baker on van Inwagen's Revised Consequence Argument

WARNING: Logic ahead! Lot’s of folks have commented on van Inwagen’s “Free Will Remains a Mystery” (2000; Kane 2002) but most of the commentaries are about part 2: the rollback (or Mind or luck) argument against the libertarian agency theory. Almost nothing has been written about part 1, his revised... Continue reading

Posted Mar 27, 2011 at Flickers of Freedom

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Pacific APA

Anyone interested in chairing at the Pacific APA in April 2011 (San Diego), please contact me asap: [email protected] Continue reading

Posted Dec 4, 2010 at Flickers of Freedom

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Reply to van Inwagen's 2nd Argument

Recently, two people (Ish Haji and Andrew Bailey) reminded me that my reply to van Inwagen's 1st and 3rd arguments does not work against van Inwagen's 2nd argument. For those who don't know, here is a brief version of my reply to the 1st and 3rd argument: “Incompatibilism holds that... Continue reading

Posted Nov 5, 2010 at Flickers of Freedom

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Classical Compatibilism

Fellow Fans of Free Will, I organized an invited session on Classical Compatibilism for the 2010 Pacific APA. Unfortunately there is a boycott of the conference hotel – not a strike, but a boycott – and we decided to move to the 2010 Off-Site Pacific Meeting, at the University of... Continue reading

Posted Mar 24, 2010 at Flickers of Freedom

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I'm still struggling through the paper, reply, and response but Bob's comment reminded me of a question that I wanted to ask Mark wrt L-freedom. How does this concept solve the problem of luck other than defining it away? Suppose I give this definition: a person is C-free iff all of her decisions are (a) causally determined and (b) the determinacy here generates, or procures, or enhances, or increases, the up-to-usness of the agent's actions. That doesn't solve the problem of free will and determinism, does it?

Commented Jun 10, 2009 on The Garden Reading Group - Comment Now Open at >-- The Garden of Forking Paths --<