PhB Bachelor of Philosophy Bachelor of Philosophy: Free Will and Determinism 4

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?

Accepted Answer

300–500 milliseconds

Answer

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?

Accepted Answer

Conscious awareness of intention does not mark the only relevant moment of voluntary control

Answer

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?

Accepted Answer

Conscious decisions never causally produce actions, undermining free will

Answer

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'?

Accepted Answer

It means the agent would have done otherwise if they had chosen differently

Answer

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?

Accepted Answer

Boethius

Answer

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.

PhB Bachelor of Philosophy Practice Test

PhB Bachelor of Philosophy Practice Test

PhB Bachelor of Philosophy Bachelor of Philosophy: Free Will and Determinism 4