Questions On The Free Will - 2144 Words

The Free Will Problem presents three different theses that, upon first glance, seem both intuitive and reasonable as long as they are considered independently. It is not possible to entertain all three theses together while maintaining any level of consistency. The problem, therefore, is in determining which of the three theses to discard. The first thesis is the Free Will Thesis, which simply states that agents sometimes act freely. This thesis seems to be reasonable for at least two reasons. The first reason is that, more often than not, we feel as though we are free; that is we feel as though we make a choice based on what we want, whether it be after careful consideration or merely on a whim. The very idea that we feel as though we†¦show more content†¦The second thesis in the Free Will problem is the Causal Determinism Thesis, which states that every event is causally determined to occur by another event; every event has a cause. This thesis seems reasonable because it coincides with the way in which we view the world, that being scientifically. Whenever an event occurs we naturally think that something caused that event. Imagine a cup of water falling over on a desk. It goes against our common sense to say that nothing caused the cup of water to fall over, it just did. We may not always know what the cause is but we do seem to think that a cause is necessary for the event to have happened and so far science seems to support this conclusion. The third thesis in the Free Will Problem is Incompatibilism Thesis, which states that the Free Will Thesis and the Causal Determinism Thesis are incompatible with one another; in other words, they are mutually exclusive. This thesis seems reasonable due to the following: if we define free will as acting without a cause or not being caused to act, and the Free Will Thesis says agents sometime act freely, then anytime we, as agents, act freely, an event occurs that does not have a cause. This is a direct violation of the Causal Determinism Thesis, which states that every event must have a cause. All three theses seem intuitively plausible but it is impossible to hold all three theses together consistently. Choosing