PhB Bachelor of Philosophy Bachelor of Philosophy: Free Will and Determinism 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Neuroscientist Benjamin Libet's experiments in the 1980s found that brain activity (the 'readiness potential') preceded conscious awareness of the intention to move by approximately how long?
- 50 milliseconds
- 300–500 milliseconds (Correct answer)
- 1–2 seconds
- 5 seconds
Correct answer: 300–500 milliseconds
Libet found the readiness potential preceded conscious will by roughly 300–500ms, sparking debate over whether conscious decisions are epiphenomenal.
Question 2: Daniel Dennett's compatibilist response to Libet's experiments primarily argues which of the following?
- The readiness potential shows free will is illusory
- Conscious awareness of intention does not mark the only relevant moment of voluntary control (Correct answer)
- Quantum indeterminacy in neurons rescues libertarian free will
- Libet's methodology proves epiphenomenalism
Correct answer: Conscious awareness of intention does not mark the only relevant moment of voluntary control
Dennett argues that conscious control is distributed across the entire decision-making process, not concentrated in a single moment of awareness, so Libet's result doesn't threaten free will.
Question 3: The philosophical position called 'epiphenomenalism' holds that mental events are causally inert byproducts of physical brain processes. What is the main implication for free will?
- Conscious intentions cause behavior, vindicating free will
- Conscious decisions never causally produce actions, undermining free will (Correct answer)
- Mental events are identical to physical events, so free will is preserved
- Only determinism entails epiphenomenalism
Correct answer: Conscious decisions never causally produce actions, undermining free will
If mental events are epiphenomenal, then conscious intentions do not cause actions, which seems to eliminate agent control and free will.
Question 4: What does the 'conditional analysis' of free will—associated with G.E. Moore and early compatibilism—claim about the phrase 'could have done otherwise'?
- It means the agent had no prior causes determining their action
- It means the agent would have done otherwise if they had chosen differently (Correct answer)
- It means the laws of physics were suspended at the moment of action
- It means a random quantum event could have altered the outcome
Correct answer: It means the agent would have done otherwise if they had chosen differently
The conditional analysis interprets 'could have done otherwise' as 'would have done otherwise if differently motivated or if conditions had differed,' making it compatible with determinism.
Question 5: Theological fatalism, distinct from scientific determinism, argues that divine foreknowledge makes free will impossible. Which philosopher's work 'The Consolation of Philosophy' proposes eternity as a solution to this problem?
- St. Augustine
- Thomas Aquinas
- Boethius (Correct answer)
- Anselm of Canterbury
Correct answer: Boethius
Boethius argued that God exists in an eternal present and 'sees' all times simultaneously, so divine foreknowledge is more like perception of present events than prediction.
Question 6: William James distinguished between a 'soft' and 'hard' determinism. What did James call the position that accepts determinism but claims moral concepts remain meaningful?
- Libertarianism
- Soft determinism (Correct answer)
- Hard incompatibilism
- Agentive realism
Correct answer: Soft determinism
James coined 'soft determinism' for views (later called compatibilism) that accept causal necessity but preserve meaningful distinctions between free and constrained actions.
Question 7: Robert Kane's libertarian theory appeals to quantum indeterminacy in the brain to explain undetermined choices. What is a central objection to this approach?
- Quantum events are not physically real
- Random quantum fluctuations introduce luck rather than control, not genuine free choice (Correct answer)
- Compatibilism already accommodates quantum indeterminacy
- Kane's view entails hard determinism at the macro level
Correct answer: Random quantum fluctuations introduce luck rather than control, not genuine free choice
Critics argue that if quantum events randomly tip a decision, the outcome is just lucky, not freely chosen by the agent in any robust sense.
PhB Bachelor of Philosophy Bachelor of Philosophy: Free Will and Determinism 4
Neuroscientist Benjamin Libet's experiments in the 1980s found that brain activity (the 'readiness potential') preceded conscious awareness of the intention to move by approximately how long?