PHI 130 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Compatibilism, Agnosticism, Harry Frankfurt

• School: University of Miami
• Department: Philosophy
• Course: PHI 130
• Professor: Casey Landers

Document Summary

Questions the definition of principle of alternative possibilities. Considering the following anti-free-will argument: premise #1: we live in a completely deterministic universe, premise #2: such a universe leaves no room for free will, conclusion: there is no such thing as free will. One way to think about all this is that the libertarian gets around this argument by denying premise 1. The compatibilist gets around it by denying premise 2: any compatibilist will reject premise 2. Note that denying premise 2 doesn"t necessarily mean accepting premise 1: the compatibilist can just remain agnostic on that point and accept whatever science ultimately tells us, we have free will regardless of determinism being true. P1: if determinism is true, no one is free to do otherwise. P2: if no one is free to do otherwise, no one is in control of their actions in the right way to be responsible for them.