Grad students enroll in PHIL 276T. Do we have free will? What are the relevant senses of "freedom" and "the will"? One of the main reasons questions about free will matter is that some sort of freedom or control seems to be required in order to fairly hold people responsible for how they have behaved -- for praise and blame, rewards and punishments, and the like. Accordingly, questions about free will often transform into questions about moral responsibility. Are we ever morally responsible for our behavior? Do we deserve credit or rewards for our success or hard work? Do wrongdoers deserve to be blamed or punished? In this course we will explore debates from roughly the past PHIL 100 years between philosophers who defend the common sense view that we do have free will and are sometimes morally responsible for our conduct and philosophers who argue that we do not have free will or are not morally responsible for our behavior. In turn, we will explore practical applications of these debates, such as reasons to change (or not) our social practices and ways of relating to one another, such as the kinds of angry blame that are commonplace in ordinary relationships, and the role of incarceration and punishment in our legal system.
4 units · Letter or Credit/No Credit
Grad students enroll in 276T. Do we have free will? What are the relevant senses of "freedom" and "the will"? One of the main reasons questions about free will matter is that some sort of freedom or control seems to be required in order to fairly hold people responsible for how they have behaved -- for praise and blame, rewards and punishments, and the like. Accordingly, questions about free will often transform into questions about moral responsibility. Are we ever morally responsible for our behavior? Do we deserve credit or rewards for our success or hard work? Do wrongdoers deserve to be blamed or punished? In this course we will explore debates from roughly the past 100 years between philosophers who defend the common sense view that we do have free will and are sometimes morally responsible for our conduct and philosophers who argue that we do not have free will or are not morally responsible for our behavior. In turn, we will explore practical applications of these debates, such as reasons to change (or not) our social practices and ways of relating to one another, such as the kinds of angry blame that are commonplace in ordinary relationships, and the role of incarceration and punishment in our legal system.
Offered in Autumn 2025 at Stanford University.