What is it about?
Humans have long experienced themselves as free, but this seems incompatible with a mechanistic world. This is a time-worn issue which seems to have no definitive resolution. This article reviews the longstanding controversy and then argues a unique and compelling resolution.
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Why is it important?
Among other reasons, absent metaphysical freedom, human beings are not truly responsible for their choices, and hence their actions based on those choices. This has the practical consequence that capital, or other harsh punishment, in an affluent society, is never justified unless it can be shown that it deters the targeted behavior. Retributive Punishment can never be justified.
Perspectives
This intractable problem was instrumental in drawing me into philosophy. I know that others, once introduced, will find it equally enticing and important.
David Clark
university of Montana
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Experience and the Argument Against Human Freedom, Metaphysica, January 2017, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1515/mp-2017-0004.
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