PhB Bachelor of Philosophy Bachelor of Philosophy: Free Will and Determinism 2

Question 1

Which philosopher argued in 'An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding' that liberty is simply acting according to the determinations of the will, making freedom compatible with necessity?

Accepted Answer

David Hume

Answer

Hume defined liberty as the power to act or not act according to the will's determination, making compatibilism central to his empiricism.

Question 2

P.F. Strawson's influential paper 'Freedom and Resentment' (1962) argued that free will debates should focus primarily on which of the following?

Accepted Answer

Reactive attitudes such as gratitude and resentment

Answer

Strawson shifted focus to the reactive attitudes we adopt toward people as participants in moral relationships, grounding free will in interpersonal practice.

Question 3

The 'Consequence Argument,' developed by Peter van Inwagen, concludes that if determinism is true, then our actions are consequences of laws of nature and events in the remote past. What does van Inwagen conclude from this?

Accepted Answer

We have no control over these consequences and thus lack free will

Answer

Van Inwagen's Consequence Argument concludes that if determinism holds, no one has power over the past or the laws, so no one has power over their actions.

Question 4

What is 'agent causation' as defended by Roderick Chisholm and Timothy O'Connor?

Accepted Answer

The view that agents as substances are irreducible causes of their own actions

Answer

Agent causation holds that the agent itself—not merely prior events—is the direct cause of action, posited as a solution to the luck objection against libertarianism.

Question 5

Harry Frankfurt's thought experiment featuring a neuroscientist who can intervene in decisions was designed primarily to challenge which principle?

Accepted Answer

The Principle of Alternative Possibilities (PAP)

Answer

Frankfurt Cases are designed to show that moral responsibility does not require the ability to do otherwise, targeting the Principle of Alternative Possibilities.

PhB Bachelor of Philosophy Practice Test

PhB Bachelor of Philosophy Practice Test

PhB Bachelor of Philosophy Bachelor of Philosophy: Free Will and Determinism 2