HONR 264: Free
Will and Moral Responsibility
HONR 264-01 | ID 21003 | MR 12-1:50 | Room: Craig-Lee 255 | Spring 2015
Instructor: Dr.
Aaron Smuts | asmuts@ric.edu | office hours: 219 Alger Hall,
12:30-1:30 T & b.a.
Course Syllabus
Description
Could pre-cogs predict your
holiday plans next year? Could a super-intelligent
demon with knowledge of the position and projection of every atom in the
universe determine what you will have for breakfast next Tuesday?
Just what is free will? Can we make sense of the notion? We will begin the semester by looking at the
significance of determinism for free will and moral responsibility. Is determinism true? And if so, is free will compatible with
determinism?
Some think that determinism is
false and point to putative sources of indeterminacy as the locus of free
will. But it is just as difficult to see
how indeterminate events could help make anyone responsible for their actions. Wouldn't they be an impediment to our
control? We will evaluate ancient,
medieval, and contemporary answers to these questions.
In the next part of the course,
we will explore the implications of hard
determinism. Would praise and blame
make sense if we lack freedom? Without
freedom, it seems that we would have to radically reform our views of virtue,
vice, love, and friendship. If no one is
responsible for their actions, what justifies punishment? If we don't have free will, should we, as
some philosophers suggest, actively promote the illusion that we do?
Texts
There is just one required texts for this course:
- Joseph Bedier (Author), Hilaire Belloc
(Trans). The Romance of Tristan and
Iseult. Vintage, 1994. ISBN-10: 0679750169. [RTI]
*Buy this version.
There are five
recommended books:
- Robert Kane. A
Contemporary Introduction to Free Will (Oxford UP, 2005). ISBN-10: 019514970X. [CI]
- Gary Watson, ed. Free Will (Oxford Readings in Philosophy)
(Oxford UP, 2003). ISBN-10: 019925494X.
[GWFW]
- Derk Pereboom, ed. Free Will. Hackett, 2009. ISBN-10: 1603841296. [DPFW]
- Robert Kane, ed. Free Will (Blackwell Readings in
Philosophy). Blackwell, 2009.
ISBN-10: 0631221026. [RKFW]
- Sophocles, Theban Plays. Peter Meineck and Paul Woodruff (trans).
Hackett, 2003. ISBN-10: 0872205851. [TP]
All of the readings,
except for Tristan and Iseult will be
posted on Blackboard [BB]. But it will be easier for you to simply buy the
recommended books. Otherwise you'll need to print out the articles. You'll get
the most bang for your buck by buying the two Kane books, CI and RKFW. And the
Sophocles is cheap; you should own it.
Coursework
There will be two different forms
of coursework: (best 20 out of 27) daily quizzes and three take-home examinations. I will give a short quiz at the beginning of
each class that will require a one or two sentence answer. The quizzes are closed-book, but
open-note. The bulk of your grade comes
from the take-home exams. All
assignments must be completed to pass the course.
Quizzes (10%) + first exam (30%) + second exam (30%) + final
exam (30%).
I encourage students who are
doing well to write a term paper in place of the final exam. If you chose this
option, please let me know two weeks before Thanksgiving. I'll help you refine
your topic and develop an outline. You must give me an abstract and a rough
outline one month before the final exam period. I will not accept a term paper
otherwise.
Attendance Policy
Although I record every class
meeting, attendance is required. If you miss 6 or more classes, you will
receive a 0 for your quiz grade. If
you miss 12 or more classes, you will receive an F for the course. (There
are no excused or unexcused absences. But please talk to me if something major
comes up that dramatically effect your attendance.)
Tardiness Policy
If you are more than 5 minutes late, I will not accept your daily quiz
and you will be marked absent. Come to class on time. If you are more than 10
minutes late, you will not be admitted to class.
Leaving Early Policy
No matter the reason, if you leave early, I will not accept your daily
quiz and you will be marked absent. It doesn't matter if you have a court date,
a doctor's appointment, or if you have to get to work. If you leave early, you
will be marked absent.
Classroom Etiquette Policy
Pay attention; don't have distracting side conversations with other
students; don't read newspapers or do crossword puzzles in class; don't sleep;
don't text; don't sigh loudly with displeasure. This kind of behavior is
disruptive. Be civil. Be courteous. This isn't high school. If your behavior is
disruptive, I will ask you to leave. If I have to ask you to leave twice,
you will receive an F in the class.
Laptop Policy
Laptop use is prohibited. The same
goes for tablet computers and smartphones. Consider this rehab for Facebook
addiction. You should print the articles posted on Blackboard and bring them to
class.
Academic Honesty
Plagiarism—claiming someone
else’s ideas or written work as your own—will not be tolerated. The tests are
not collaborative. All sources must be cited. Anyone caught cheating will be
given a failing grade in the course. I am also required to report you to the
Vice President of Academic Affairs. But
I would report you even if it was optional. Plagiarism is a serious offense.
Class Schedule
* The
readings for each class are nested under the date. You should do the readings before class. There will be a short quiz every class.
- Week 1
- C1 (R:
1/22) Introduction
- Background
Reading
- Kane,
ch.1 "The Free Will Problem" [CI]
- Further
Reading
- Solomon,
"On Fate and Fatalism" [BB]
- Week 2
- C2 (M:
1/26) Moral Realism
- Readings
- Shafer-Landau,
"Ten Arguments Against Moral Objectivity" [BB]
Topic I: Fate, Predestination,
Foreknowledge, and Causal Determinism
- C3 (R:
1/29) Fate
- Readings
- Sophocles,
Oedipus Tyrannus [TP]
- Further
Reading
- Lucian,
"Zeus Cross-Examined" [BB]
- Week 3
- C4 (M:
2/2) Predestination and
Divine Foreknowledge
- Readings
- Kane,
Ch. 13 "Divine Foreknowledge, and Free Will" [CI]
- Augustine,
"Divine Foreknowledge, Evil, and the Free" [RKFW]
- Further
Reading
- Hasker,
"God, Time, Knowledge and Freedom" [RKFW]
- Pike,
"Divine Omniscience and Voluntary Action" [BB]
- Taylor,
"Fate" [BB]
Topic II:
Compatibilism
- C5 (R: 2/5) Causal Determinism and Classical
Compatibilism
- Readings
- Kane,
Ch. 2 "Compatibilism" [CI]
- The
Stoics, selections [DPFW]
- Laplace,
Essay on Probabilities, ch.2
[BB]
- Week 4
- C6 (M:
2/9) Classic Compatibilism
- Readings
- Hume,
selections from the Treatise
and the Enquiry [BB]
- Skinner,
"Walden Two" (excerpt) [RKFW]
- C7 (R: 2/12) Contemporary Compatibilism -
Frankfurt
- Readings
- Kane,
Ch. 9 "Higher-order Desires, Real Selves and New
Compatibilists" [CI]
- Frankfurt,
"Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person" [GW FW]
- Week 5
- C8 (M:
2/16) Contemporary
Compatibilism - Wolf
- Readings
- Wolf,
"Sanity and the Metaphysics of Responsibility" [GWFW]
- Further
Reading
- Rosen,
"Culpability and Ignorance" [BB] (I made this option after
the second snow day.)
- C9 (R: 2/19) Contemporary Compatibilism - Watson
- Readings
- Watson,
"Free Agency" [GWFW]
- Week 6
- C10 (M:
2/23) Incompatibilism
- Readings
- Kane,
Ch. 3 "Incompatibilism" [CI]
- van
Inwagen, "An Argument for Incompatibilism" [GWFW]
Topic III:
Libertarianism
- C11 (R: 2/26) Indeterminism
- Readings
- Kane,
Ch.4 "Libertarianism, Indeterminism, and Chance" [CI]
- Lucretius,
"On the Nature of Things" (excerpt) [BB]
- van
Inwagen, "The Mystery of Metaphysical Freedom" [RKFW]
- Further
Reading
- Kaye,
"Why the Liberty of Indifference is Worth Wanting" [BB]
- Week 7
- C12 (M:
3/2) Agent Causation and
Personal Identity
- Readings
- Kane,
Ch. 5 "Minds, Selves, and Agent Causes" [CI]
- Reid,
selections [BB]
- C13 (R:
3/5) Agent Causation
- Readings
- Campbell,
"Has the Self 'Free Will'?" (excerpt from On Selfhood and Godhood) [BB]
- Further
Reading
- Chisholm,
"Human Freedom and the Self" [RKFW]
- Week 8 ***SPRING
BREAK*** (3/9-3/16)
- Week 9
- C14 (M:
3/9) Agent Causation,
cont.
- Readings
- Kane,
ch. 6 "Actions, Reasons, and Causes" [CI]
- O'Connor,
"Agent Causation"
[GWFW]
- Further
Readings
- Kane,
"Responsibility, Luck, and Chance" [GWFW]
- O'Connor,
"Agent Causation"
[GWFW]
- Clarke,
"Agent Causation and Event Causation" [DPFW]
Topic IV: Free Will
Skepticism
- C15 (R:
3/12) Hard Determinism
- Readings
- Kane,
Ch.7 "Hard Determinists and Other Skeptics" [CI]
- Galen
Strawson, "The Impossibility of Moral Responsibility" [GWFW]
- Edwards,
"Hard and Soft Determinism" [RKFW]
- Further
Reading
- Pereboom,
"Determinism al Dente" [DPFW]
- Week 10
- C16 (M:
3/16) Neuroscience and Free
Will
- Readings
- Libet,
"Do We Have Free Will?" [BB]
- C17 (R:
3/19)
- Readings
- Nissbet
and Wilson, "Telling More Than We Can Know" [BB]
Topic V: Alternative
Possibilities and Reasons Responsiveness
- Week 10
- C18 (M:
3/23) Alternate
Possibilities
- Readings
- Kane,
Ch. 8 "Moral Responsibility and Alternative Possibilities"
[CI]
- Frankfurt,
"Alternate Possibilities and Moral Responsibility" [GWFW]
- C19 (R:
3/26) Tracing Accounts
- Readings
- Fischer,
"Frankfurt-Style Compatibilism" [GWFW]
- Pereboom,
"Determinism al Dente" (sections I-II) [DPFW]
- Week 11
- C20 (M:
3/30) Reasons Responsiveness
- Readings
- Arpaly,
"Moral Worth" [BB]
Topic VI: Ethics and
Free Will
- C21 (R:
4/2) Ethics and Free Will
- Readings
- Kane,
Ch. 10 "Reactive Attitude Theories" [CI]
- Peter
Strawson, "Freedom and Resentment" [DPFW]
- Pereboom,
"Determinism al Dente" (section VII) [DPFW]
- Further
Reading
- Dennett,
"I Could Not Have Done Otherwise - So What?" [RKFW]
- Week 11
- C22 (M: 4/6) Determinism and Ethics
- Readings
- Kant,
excerpt from Critique of
Practical Reason [DPEW]
- Further
Reading
- Pereboom,
"The Contours of Hard Incompatibilism" [BB]
- C23 (R:
4/9) Punishment
- Readings
- Pereboom,
"Hard Incompatibilism and Criminal Behavior" [BB]
- Further
Reading
- Levy,
"The Responsibility of the Psychopath Revisited" [BB]
Topic VII: Love,
Freedom, and the Meaning of Life
- Week 12
- C24 (M:
4/13) Love and Freedom
- Readings
- Bedier,
The Romance of Tristan and Iseult
(pp. 1-108) [RTI]
- Further
Reading
- Schopenhauer,
on love [BB]
- C25 (R:
4/16) Love and Freedom
- Readings
- Bedier,
The Romance of Tristan and Iseult
(pp. 109-203) [RTI]
- Pereboom,
"Hard Incompatibilism and the Meaning of Life" (pp. 199-204)
[BB]
- Further
Reading
- Smuts,
"Love and Free Will" [BB]
- Week 13
- C26 (M:
4/20) Illusionism
- Readings
- Smilansky,
"Free Will, Fundamental Dualism, and the Centrality of
Illusion" [BB]
- Further Reading
- Vohs,
"The Value of Believing in Free Will" [BB]
- C27 (R:
4/23) Free Will and the
Meaning of Life
- Readings
- Frankl,
"Logotherapy in a Nutshell" [BB]
- Further
Reading
- Wielenberg,
"The Meaning of Life" [BB]
- Week 14
- CXX (M:
2/27) ***CLASS CANCELLED***
- C28 (R:
4/30) Free Will and the
Meaning of Life
- Readings
- Pereboom,
"Hard Incompatibilism and the Meaning of Life" (pp. 187-199)
[BB]
- Week 15
- CXX (M:
5/5) ***CLASS CANCELLED***