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***