Free Will and Moral Responsibility

Catalog description

This seminar introduces the problem of free will and moral responsibility as seen by contemporary philosophers. Do we have free will? What would it be like to have free will? What kind of freedom, if any, is required for humans to be blameworthy or praiseworthy for their actions? What other things might be required? Can there be moral responsibility if everything that happens is causally determined? Can there be meaningful lives if everything is determined? And what is one to make of the typical "scientists prove there is no free will" newspaper headline? We will explore these questions and possible answers through readings in analytical philosophy.