01/13 Syllabus Spring 2018 Instructor: Dr. Meeting time: MWF, 4th period (10:40-11:30) Location: 120 Pugh Hall Office: 318 Griffin-Floyd Hall Office Hours: W, 5-6th period (11:45-1:40) F, 5th period (11:45-12:35) E-mail: afalke@ufl.edu COURSE DESCRIPTION Most people believe that they have free will. If they went to the beach, for example, they typically think that it was their choice to go. They furthermore tend to think that this choice was, in some important sense, up to them, i.e. they could have chosen not to go. However, it is quite unclear whether this view of ourselves matches our scientific worldviews. According to one scientific worldview, everything in the world is determined. Given any state of the universe and the laws of nature, every subsequent state occurs necessarily. If this is correct, it seems that at no point we can act and choose to act other than we actually do. But then it does not seem to make sense to hold people morally responsible for what they have done, for they could never have done otherwise. According to another scientific worldview, the world is indeterministic. But if this is true, our choices and actions seem random and strangely disconnected from our desires, intentions, and wishes. We might be free in some sense, but not in the sense required for being held morally responsible for our actions and choices. Either something went quite wrong in the train of thought just sketched, or many of our attitudes towards other people are quite unreasonable. If this leaves you puzzled, taking this course is a good idea, for we will look at the main philosophical arguments for and against the existence of free will. Students will come out of this course with a good overview of the free will debate. 1
REQUIRED TEXTS Kane, Robert. 2005. A Contemporary Introduction to Free Will. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN- 13: 978-0195149708 (abbreviated as CIFW) Watson, Gary (ed.). 2003. Free Will, 2nd Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN-13: 978-0199254941 (abbreviated as FW) RECOMMENDED BACKGROUND READINGS Kane, Robert. 2002. Introduction: The Contours of Contemporary Free Will Debates. In Robert Kane (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Free Will. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 3-41. (Canvas) Watson, Gary. 2003. Introduction to Free Will. In Gary Watson (ed.), Free Will, 2 nd Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1-25. (Canvas) 2
SCHEDULE The schedule below is subject to change. If and when it changes, I will announce this in class and a new version will be available on Canvas. If a reading is not in one of the two required texts, it will be available on Canvas under Files. M = Mandatory R = Recommended WEEK 1: THE PROBLEM OF FREE WILL 01/08 Mon Course Mechanics & Requirements 01/10 Wed Introduction to the Free Will Problem M: Kane, Robert. 2005. The Free Will Problem. In CIFW, 1-11. 01/12 Fri Introduction to the Free Will Problem M: Berofsky, Bernard. 1966). General Introduction to Determinism. In Bernard Berofsky (ed.), Free Will and Determinism. New York: Harper & Row, 1-8. (Canvas) 01/15 Mon Extra Credit Quiz is due (optional). WEEK 2: THE THREAT OF DETERMINISM 01/15 Mon Holiday: No class 01/17 Wed Threat 1 & 2: (Divine) Foreknowledge & Fatalism M: Kane, Robert. 2005. Predestination, Divine Foreknowledge, and Free Will. In CIFW: 147-162. 01/19 Fri Threat 1 & 2: (Divine) Foreknowledge & Fatalism M: Pike, Nelson. 1965. Divine Omniscience and Voluntary Action. The Philosophical Review 74/1, 27-46. (Canvas) 3
WEEK 3: THE THREAT OF DETERMINISM 01/22 Mon Threat 3: Social Determinism M: Milgram, Stanley. 1973. Excerpts from Obedience to Authority. New York: Harper & Row. (Canvas) M: Zimbardo, Philip. 2007. Excerpts from The Lucifer Effect. New York: Random House. (Canvas) R: Gazzaniga, Michael. 2011. The Interpreter. Who s in Charge? New York: HarperCollins, 75-103. (Canvas) 01/24 Wed Threat 4: Psychological Determinism M: Libet, Benjamin. 1999. Do We Have Free Will? Journal of Consciousness Studies 6/8-9, 47-57. (Canvas) R: Honderich, Ted. 2012. On Benjamin Libet: Is the Mind Ahead of the Brain? Behind It? Web, http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~uctytho/libetnew.html R: Roskies, Adina. 2005. Neuroscientific Challenges to Free Will and Responsibility. Trends in Cognitive Science 10/9: 419-423. (Canvas) 01/26 Fri Threat 5: Physical Determinism M: Hoefer, Carl. 2010. Causal Determinism. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/determinism-causal/ R: Kane, Robert. 2005. Free Will and Modern Science. In CIFW, 132-146. WEEK 4 : CONSTRAINTS & ALTERNATIVE POSSIBILITIES 01/29 Mon Introduction to Compatibilism M: Kane, Robert. 2005. Compatibilism. In CIFW, 12-22. 01/31 Wed Freedom vs. Constraint M: Ayer, A. J. 1954. Freedom and Necessity. In Derk Pereboom (ed.) (1997), Free Will. Indianapolis/Cambridge: Hackett, 110-118. (Canvas) Home Assignment 1 is due (on Ayer). 02/02 Wed Alternative Possibilities M: Smart, J. J. C. 1961. Free-Will, Praise and Blame. In FW, 58-71. Home Assignment 1 is due (on Smart). 4
WEEK 5: DETERMINISM AS A CONDITION FOR FREE WILL 02/05 Mon Determinism as a Condition for Free Will M: Foot, Philippa. 1957. Free Will as Involving Determinism. The Philosophical Review 66/4, 439-450. 02/07 Wed Determinism Without a Fundamental Level M: Brincker, Maria. 2015. Evolution Beyond Determinism: On Dennett s Compatibilism and the Too Timeless Free Will Debate. Journal of Cognition and Neuroethics 3/1, 39-74. 02/09 Fri Writing Philosophical Papers M: A Brief Guide to Writing the Philosophy Paper. Harvard Writing Center, http://phi-losophy.fas.harvard.edu/files/phildept/files/brief_guide_to_writing_philosophy_paper.pdf R: Pryor, Jim. 2012 Guidelines on Writing a Philosophy Paper. Web, http://www.jimpryor.net/teach-ing/guidelines/writing.html WEEK 6 : THE CONSEQUENCE ARGUMENT 02/12 Mon Introduction to Incompatibilism M: Kane, Robert. 2005. Incompatibilism. IN CIFW, 23-31. 02/14 Wed The Consequence Argument M: van Inwagen, Peter. 1983. An Argument for Incompatibilism. In FW, 38-57. Home Assignment 2 is due (if on van Inwagen). 02/16 Fri The Consequence Argument R: Lewis, David. 1981. Are We Free to Break the Laws? In FW, 122-129. R: Beebee, Helen & Mele, Alfred. 2002. Humean Compatibilism. Mind 111/442, 201-223. (Canvas) Home Assignment 2 is due (if on Lewis or Beebee/Mele). 02/18 Sun Paper 1 Version 1 is due WEEK 7 : EVENT- CAUSAL LIBERTARIANISM 02/19 Mon Agency & Chance M: Kane, Robert. 1999. Responsibility, Luck, and Chance: Reflections on Free Will and Indeterminism. In FW, 299-321. 5
02/21 Wed Arguments Against Event-Causal Libertarianism M: Baker, Lynn Rudder. 2006. Moral Responsibility Without Libertarianism. Noûs 40/2, 307-330. (Canvas) 02/23 Fri Arguments Against Event-Causal Libertarianism M: Lemos, John. 2011. Wanting, Willing, Trying and Kant s Theory of Free Will. Dialectica 65/1, 31-48. (Canvas) WEEK 8 : ALTERNATIVE POSSIBILITIES & MORAL RESPONSIBILITY 02/26 Mon Introduction to Moral Responsibility M: Kane, Robert. 2005. Moral Responsibility and Alternative Possibilities. In CIFW, 80-92. 02/28 Wed Moral Responsibility Without Alternative Possibilities M: Frankfurt, Harry. 1969. Alternative Possibilities and Moral Responsibility. In FW, 167-176. M: Fischer, John Martin. 2002. Frankfurt-Style Compatibilism. In FW, 190-211. Home Assignment 3 is due (if on Frankfurt or Fischer) 03/02 Fri Moral Responsibility Without Alternative Possibilities M: Ekstrom, Laura Waddell. 2005. Libertarianism and Frankfurt-Style Cases. In Robert Kane (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Free Will. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (Canvas) Home Assignment 3 is due (if on Ekstrom) WEEK 9: SPRING BREAK 03/11 Mon Paper 1 Version 2 is due WEEK 10: ALTERNATIVE POSSIBILITIES & MORAL RESPONSIBILITY 03/12 Mon Alternative Possibilities as a Condition for Moral Responsibility M: Widerker, David. 1995. Libertarianism and Frankfurt s Attack on the Principle of Alternative Possibilities. In FW, 177-189. 03/14 Wed New Frankfurt-Style Cases M: Mele, Alfred & Robb, David. 1998. Rescuing Frankfurt-style Cases, Philosophical Review 107, 97-112. (Canvas) 6
03/16 Fri New Frankfurt-Style Cases M: Hunt, David. 2000. Moral Responsibility and Avoidable Action, Philosophical Studies 97, 195-227. (Canvas) WEEK 1 1 : REACTIVE ATTITUDES 03/19 Mon Introduction to Reactive Attitudes M: Kane, Robert. 2005. Reactive Attitude Theories. In CIFW, 107-119. 03/21 Wed Moral Responsibility vs. Reactive Attitudes M: Strawson, P. F. 1962. Freedom and Resentment. In FW, 72-93. Home Assignment 4 is due (if on Strawson) 03/23 Fri Praise & Blame M: Scanlon, T. M. 1988. The Significance of Choice. In FW, 352-371. Home Assignment 4 is due (if on Scanlon) WEEK 12 : REACTIVE ATTITUDES & AUTONOMY 03/26 Mon Praise & Blame M: Wolf, Susan. 1980. Asymmetrical Freedom. (Canvas) 03/28 Wed Ultimate Responsibility M: Arpaly, Nomy. 2004. Which Autonomy? In J. K. Campbell, M. O Rourke & D. Shier (Eds.), Freedom and Determinism. Cambridge: MIT Press. (Canvas) Home Assignment 4 is due (if on Arpaly) 03/30 Fri Discussion Group Discussion of Final Paper Projects WEEK 13 : ULTIMATE RESPONSIBILITY 04/02 Mon Introduction to Ultimate Responsibility M: Kane, Robert. 2005. Ultimate Responsibility. In CIFW, 120-131. R: Kane, Robert. 2005. Is Free Will Possible? Hard Determinists and Other Skeptics. In CIFW, 67-79. 7
04/04 Wed Ultimate Responsibility M: Strawson, Galen. 2002. The Bounds of Freedom. In Robert Kane (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Free Will. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 441-460. (Canvas) 04/06 Fri Ultimate Responsibility M: Pereboom, Derk. 2002. Living without Free Will: The Case for Hard Incompatibilism. In Robert Kane (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Free Will. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 477-488. (Canvas) WEEK 14: AGENT CAUSATION 04/09 Mon Introduction to Agent Causation M: Kane, Robert. 2005. Minds, Selves, and Agent Causes. In CIFW, 40-52. 04/11 Wed Agents vs. Events M: Chisholm, Roderick M. 1964. Human Freedom and the Self. In FW, 26-37. Home Assignment 5 is due (if on Chisholm) 04/13 Fri Making Possible vs. Necessitating M: O Connor, Timothy. 1995. Agent Causation. In FW, 257-284. Home Assignment 5 is due (if on O Connor) WEEK 14: AGENT CAUSATION 04/16 Mon Probabilistic Action on Reasons M: Clarke, Randolph. 1993. Toward a Credible Agent-Causal Account of Free Will. In FW, 285-298. 04/18 Wed Agent Causation & Compatibilism M: Markosian, Ned. 1999. A Compatibilist Version of the Theory of Agent Causation. Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 80, 257-277. (Canvas) 04/20 Fri Phenomenology of Agency M: Horgan, Terry. 2017. Injecting the Phenomenology of Agency into the Free Will Debate. Proceedings & Addresses of The American Philosophical Association 91, 155-184. (Canvas) 8
WEEK 16 : FREE WILL IN BUDDHISM 04/23 Mon Introduction to Free Will in Buddhism M: Gier, Nicholas F. & Kjellberg, Paul. 2004. Buddhism and the Freedom of the Will: Pali and Mahayanist Responses. In J. K. Campbell, M. O Rourke & D. Shier (Eds.), Freedom and Determinism. Cambridge: MIT Press. (Canvas) 04/25 Wed Final Discussion on Free Will in Buddhism and the Course No Readings 04/30 Mon Paper 2 is due 9
GRADE REQUIREMENTS The final grade for this course will be determined by three factors. Papers 1a 1000 words 10% 1b 1500 words 20% 2 2000 words 30% Home Assignments 5 < 300 words 3% each Quizzes 5 Online 2% Participation 1 Week 1-3 7.5%* 2 Week 4-6 7.5%* * Proviso: see explanations below. Papers (60%): You will have to write two (and a half) papers. The first draft of the first paper should be about 1000 words (worth 10%), the second draft of the first paper should be around 1500 words (worth 20%), and the final paper should be around 2000 words (worth 30%). You should submit all papers online via Canvas, latest by midnight of the due day (i.e. 11:59 PM). Before the first paper is due, you will have handed in two home assignments about the readings. The first draft of your first paper should present the argument of one of the two home assignments in a more elaborate form and present an objection to it. After you received comments on the first draft, you will have to revise the draft based on the feedback, then discuss what possible responses there might be to your criticism, and explain why these responses ultimately do not work. The final paper assignment will be more open. You can either pick the assignment I offer or choose your own topic based on arguments we discussed. However, if you choose the latter option, I advise you to discuss your paper plan as well as a first draft of it with me in my office hours. Home Assignments (15%): Throughout the semester, there will be five short home assignments. Each home assignment will ask you to summarize, in less than 300 words, the core argument of a particular reading before we discuss it in class. After the first two of these assignments, you will have to pick one of them and turn it into a paper by elaborating on the argument presented and by developing a criticism of that argument. The remaining three assignments might serve as a good basis for your final paper, but that is not mandatory. Each home assignment will be worth 3% of the overall grade. If you receive less than 30 points on any of these assignments, this would indicate that you misunderstood something important about 10
the readings. If that happens, I advise you to meet with me, particularly if the assignment will serve as a basis for any of your papers. Quizzes (10%): There will be five multiple-choice online quizzes. Each quiz will allow you to determine whether or not you understood one of the main points addressed in one of the mandatory readings. I will schedule the quizzes depending on the dynamics in class. If, for example, class discussions slow down or if I am under the impression that students did not prepare the readings well, I might announce a quiz to be due the next day before class to make sure everyone has read the text. Each quiz will be worth 2% of the grade. Participation (15%): The participation grade will be determined by two factors. The first factor is your contribution in class. If you tend to be quiet in class, it might be a good idea to prepare some questions regarding the readings in advance. The second factor is your contributions to a discussion forum that will be set up on Canvas. If you have questions that were not addressed in class or if you would like to share your thoughts on the covered material, this discussion forum will allow you to get some feedback from other students outside the classroom. I will keep track of the contributions and also provide feedback if problems or confusions manifest. Half way through the semester, I will post your overall participation grade. This will give you an idea where you stand in the scheme of things. The final overall participation grade will be determined by the mean of the grade for the first half of the semester and the grade for the second half of the semester. However, if you were very active in the online discussion forum and initiated a good number of original threads, your final participation grade will be the better grade of the two halfsemester grades times two. The overall participation will be worth 20% of the overall course grade. *Proviso: Though I will not take attendance, it would not be wise to miss many classes. Any day you do not attend, you also do not participate. Lack of participation due to excessive absences cannot be compensated by participation in the discussion forum. Thus, excessive absences will result in a very bad participation grade and effectively deprive you of the chance to earn an A in the course. Furthermore, experience has shown that students who miss many classes tend not to do well on the papers. 11
GRADING SCALE The follow grading scale explains how to convert percentages to a letter grade. Percentage (p) 100 p 94 A 94 > p 90 A- 90 > p 87 B+ 87 > p 84 B 84 > p 80 B- 80 > p 77 C+ 77 > p 74 C 74 > p 70 C- 70 > p 67 D+ 67 > p 64 D 64 > p 61 D- 61 > p 0 E Letter grade CLASS ETIQUETTE Do not read newspapers, sleep, check e-mail, browse the web, or distract your fellow students during class. Please silence cell phones during class. Students who violate these simple rules will be asked to leave that meeting of the course and, if such behavior persists, dropped from the course. LATE OR MAKE- UP ASSIGNMENTS & ATTENDANCE POLICY You may receive an extension on an assignment request for the extension is only in extraordinary circumstances and only if the (a) prompt, (b) timely, and (c) accompanied by all necessary written documentation. 12
In the case of an absence due to participation in an official university activity, observance of a religious holiday, performance of a military duty, or any other conflict (e.g., jury duty) that you know about in advance of the scheduled assignment, you are required to notify me of the conflict before the assignment is due, and if possible at the beginning of the semester. If an extension is not granted, the assignment will be marked down 1/3 grade (e.g., from B+ to B) for each day late. For further information on the University of Florida s attendance policy, consult: https://catalog.ufl.edu/ugrad/current/regulations/info/at-tendance.aspx ACADEMIC HONESTY Plagiarism is a very serious violation of academic honesty. It includes, but is not limited to, copying another text as your own, copying the work of a fellow student, handing in a paper prepared by another as your own, and using sources for writing your paper not cited within the paper. Plagiarism is not restricted to matters of copyright infringement and therefore it does cover materials found on web pages. The penalties for plagiarism can range from, at the very least, an automatic failing grade in the course to suspension or expulsion from the university. If you have any questions about how to prepare your paper, please discuss it with me before turning in the paper. For further information on the University of Florida s attendance policy, consult: https://catalog.ufl.edu/ugrad/current/advising/info/student-honor-code.aspx #honesty STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES Please do not hesitate to ask for accommodation for a documented disability. If you are going to request classroom accommodations, you must first register with the Dean of Students Office. The Dean of Students Office will provide the necessary documentation, which you then will have to forward to me. Please ask me if you would like any assistance in this process. For further information, consult: http://www.dso.ufl. edu/drc COUNSELING RESOURCES Resources available on campus for students include the following: University Counseling Center, 301 Peabody Hall, 392-1575, personal and career counseling; 13
Student Mental Health, Student Health Care Center, 392-1171, personal counseling; Sexual Assault Recovery Services (SARS), Student Health Care Center, 392-1161, sexual counseling; Career Resource Center, Reitz Union, 392-1601, career development assistance and counseling. 14