Unit information: Free Will in 2008/09

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Unit name Free Will
Unit code PHIL30088
Credit points 20
Level of study H/6
Teaching block(s) Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director Dr. Schlosser
Open unit status Not open
Pre-requisites

None
Co-requisites

None
School/department Department of Philosophy
Faculty Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

The unit provides an overview of the positions in the metaphysics of free will in a conceptual rather than historical manner. It focuses on incompatibilism and compatibilism, the two main positions of the traditional debate, and it introduces the contemporary view of semi-compatibilism. Turning to semi-compatibilism, it addresses the issue of moral responsibility and its connection to the problem of free will. In the final part, it considers empirical evidence from psychology and neuroscience, which is supposed to show that free will is an illusion.

Aims:

  • Introduction to the positions in the metaphysics of free will
  • Discussion of traditional incompatibilism and compatibilism
  • Introduction to contemporary semi-compatibilism
  • Discussion of recent empirical arguments against the existence of free will.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Students taking this course will be able to engage with the contemporary literature on the metaphysical issues concerning free will. They will be able to state and critically engage both with the central positions in the field and with the implications of recent empirical work for the traditional debates.

Teaching Information

1 lecture per week plus 1 seminar.

Assessment Information

Examination.

Reading and References

  • Fischer, J., and Ravizza, M. (1998) Responsibility and Control: A Theory of Moral Responsibility, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Kane, Robert (2005) A Contemporary Introduction to Free Will, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • (1998) The Significance of Free Will, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Mele, Alfred (2006) Free Will and Luck, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Van Inwagen, Peter (1983) An Essay on Free Will, Oxford: Clarendon Press.

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